Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) June 11, 2013
The National Guardianship Network (NGN) is pleased to announce 4 awards of incentive grants and technical help to states to develop innovative, consensus-driven Working Interdisciplinary Networks of Guardianship Stakeholders (WINGS). By combining the efforts of all stakeholders into WINGS, states can much better enhance judicial processes, defend individual rights and meet requirements, address insufficient funding, and make sure guardian accountability and fiduciary requirements.

The encounter of these initial WINGS groups will support NGN to develop a replication template for states interested in producing comparable networks to consider how adult guardianship is functioning in the state and what modifications could be made to increase the procedure, benefiting vulnerable adults affected as effectively as the state.

Funding for the grants was generously provided by the State Justice Institute and the Albert and Elaine Borchard Foundation Center on Law and Aging.

Following getting proposals from the highest court in a quantity of states, NGN chosen four applicants: 

New York: The New York Court System, operating with the Vera Institute of Justice, will design and implement a broad-based New York WINGS group to assess demands and establish priority regions for action.
Oregon: With leadership from the Oregon Judicial Department and the Oregon State Unit on Aging, Oregon WINGS will undertake a requirements assessment, develop quick- and extended-variety targets and objectives, and commence to initiate priority outreach, training, pilot applications and reform.
Texas: The Texas Workplace of Court Administration will establish Texas WINGS and engage the group in strategic organizing to determine troubles, prioritize issues, and set targets, which will be presented to the Texas Judicial Council. 
Utah: The Utah WINGS will organize a statewide summit to discover, propose, and implement options to three endemic guardianship troubles. Primarily based on the encounter from this initial project, WINGS will draft a charge for ongoing operate as a standing committee of the Utah Judicial Council.
Two further states already have such consensus and problem-solving groups in spot. In Ohio, an interdisciplinary Subcommittee on Adult Guardianship has been established under the state Supreme Courts Advisory Committee on Kids, Families & the Courts. In Missouri, MO-WINGS grew out of a broadly inclusive job force convened by the Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council.

The creation and sustainability of state WINGS groups was a important recommendation of the 2011 Third National Guardianship Summit convened by NGN at the S.J. Quinney College of Law of the University of Utah. For Summit Standards and Recommendations, as nicely as 10 background papers, see the Utah Law Review, Vol. 2012, No. 3.

For further information on state WINGS, speak to NGN Chair Mary Joy Quinn [maryjoyquinn(at)gmail(dot)com], or ABA Commission on Law and Aging Assistant Director Erica Wood [Erica.wood(at)americanbar(dot)org].

About NGN
The National Guardianship Network, established in 2002, consists of 10 national organizations dedicated to effective adult guardianship law and practice, which includes AARP, the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging, the ABA Section of Genuine Home, Trust and Estate Law, the Alzheimers Association, the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, the Center for Guardianship Certification, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the National Center for State Courts, the National College of Probate Judges, and the National Guardianship Association.

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