Research

Research on Guardianship

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                         CONTACT: Jon Peck
September 17, 2009                                                    (850) 414-2000
                                                                                  (850) 559-0395
                                                                              peckj@elderaffairs.org

Study: Public Guardianship Programs Save Florida Taxpayers $1.9 Million

TALLAHASSEE – A new study shows that Florida’s public guardian programs saved the State of Florida almost $1.9 million last year, mostly by helping incapacitated persons move from costly hospitals to more affordable living options, such as assisted living facilities. Public guardians serve as legal representatives for indigent elders and others who cannot make their own decisions and have no one else to assist them.
The cost-savings determination is part of a University of Kentucky study conducted at the request of Florida’s Statewide Public Guardianship Office, which is a unit of the Department of Elder Affairs.
The research team examined the 15 public guardianship programs that serve 20 Florida counties, reviewing the period from June to December 2008 and then calculating full-year savings. The researchers found that the program served 1,916 incapacitated persons at a savings of $3,940,456. Once the statewide program’s operating expenses were subtracted, the annual savings was $1,883,043, according to the independent researchers.
The researchers also concluded that Florida’s public guardian programs produce “significant quality of life savings” for incapacitated persons, ranging from emotional support and improved socialization to reconnecting with family, friends and religious institutions.
“It’s gratifying to know that independent experts recognize the value public guardianship provides, both financially and socially,” said Michelle Hollister, executive director of the Statewide Public Guardianship Office. “We are proud of the way public guardians help those who have nowhere else to turn.”
The Statewide Public Guardianship Office appoints local public guardian offices. These offices provide guardianship services to persons who do not have adequate income or assets to afford a private guardian and who have no willing family or friend to serve in that role.
“This report clearly shows that our state’s public guardianship programs provide a tremendous value to the people of Florida,” said Elder Affairs Secretary E. Douglas Beach. “Especially in these difficult economic times, it’s good to know that elders in need can be helped in a way that actually saves taxpayers’ money.”
According to the University of Kentucky study, the most significant impacts of the public guardianship programs were for discharging incapacitated persons from medical hospitals to assisted living facilities (481 individuals in a year, at a savings of $2.5 million); securing community-based services to prevent moving incapacitated persons to more restrictive settings (814 individuals, saving $814,000); and discharging incapacitated persons from state hospitals to nursing homes (522 individuals, saving $329,000).
The researchers also issued a series of recommendations, including that the program be expanded to cover all 67 Florida counties and state financial support be expanded to produce even greater statewide savings.
A copy of the University of Kentucky study is available at http://elderaffairs.state.fl.us/english/pubguard/SPGO_Evaluation_09.pdf.

Results of Statewide Survey of Guardianship

Guardianship Subcommittee

Pamela B Teaster and Sue Crone,co-chairpersons

2007

Kentucky Legal Needs Study.

David Godfrey, Access to Justice Foundation

2007

Volunteer Guardianship Monitoring Programs:

A Win-Win Solution

ABA Commission on Law and Aging

Wards of the State: National Study of Public Guardianship:

Teaster et al