pennsylvania’s guardianship tracking system (gts)...pennsylvania’s guardianship tracking system...
TRANSCRIPT
PENNSYLVANIA’S
GUARDIANSHIP
TRACKING SYSTEM (GTS)
National College of Probate
Judges
2019 Fall Conference
1
• Judge Paula Francisco Ott – Chair, Advisory
Council on Elder Justice in the Courts
• Judge Lois E. Murphy - Administrative Judge of
the Orphans’ Court, Montgomery County Court of
Common Pleas
• Cherstin Hamel - Director, Office of Elder Justice
in the Courts, Administrative Office of PA Courts
• Amy Whitworth - Information Technology Analyst
Manager, Administrative Office of PA Courts
2
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After this session, participants will be able to:
• Describe the GTS’ capabilities
• Identify the GTS’ usefulness to courts
• Utilize Pennsylvania’s advice and lessons
learned
3
PENNSYLVANIA’S POPULATION
AGE 65 AND OVER
• Ranks 5th in the 50 states – 2.2 million
persons
• Growing 20x that of the general population
– a 16.3% increase from 2010-2017Pennsylvania State Data Center, 2017 Detailed Population Estimates Research Brief
4
PA Department of Aging
Substantiated Types of Abuse FY 2017-2018
38.5%
19.8%17.7%
16.3%
13.8%
6.5%
1.1%
What Types of Abuse are Occurring?
Self-Neglect: 38.5%
Caregiver Neglect: 19.8%
Financial Exploitation: 17.7%
Physical Abuse: 16.3%
Emotional Abuse: 13.8%
Type Not Specified: 6.5%
Sexual Abuse: 1.1%
ALZHEIMER’S FACTS AND FIGURES
• In 2019, an estimated 5.8 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s
• One in 10 persons age 65 and older (10%) has Alzheimer’s dementia
• One in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another dementia
Alzheimer’s Association
6
GUARDIANSHIP TRACKING
SYSTEM (GTS)
• A statewide tool for courts to manage
guardianship cases and track guardian
compliance with annual reporting
• An e-filing solution for Pennsylvania
Guardians
• Tracks guardianships of adults age 18+7
WHAT LED TO THE CREATION
OF THE GTS?
• A lack of uniform, statewide monitoring and
tracking procedures for guardianship cases
• Incomplete knowledge about the number of
active guardianship cases in Pennsylvania
• A recommendation of the Elder Law Task Force
8
THE ELDER LAW TASK FORCE
9
CREATION OF THE GTS
• October 2014: Elder Law Task Force’s
Report and recommendations issued
• November 2016: Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania directs AOPC IT to create
the GTS
10
ADVISORY COUNCIL ON ELDER
JUSTICE IN THE COURTS
• Background
• Oversight role regarding the GTS
11
OFFICE OF ELDER JUSTICE
IN THE COURTS (OEJC)
• Background
• Role in implementation of the GTS
12
ADVISORY COUNCIL’S AND OEJC’S
EFFORTS REGARDING THE GTS
• Training
• Education
• Resources
13
OVERVIEW OF THE GTS
14
GTS BUSINESS MODEL
15
GTS FUNCTIONALITY
• Statewide repository of guardians
• Compliance tracking and electronic notifications
• Statewide alerts about guardians
• Automated flag logic
• Statistical reporting16
STATEWIDE REPOSITORY
OF GUARDIANS
• Finding guardians
• Training guardians
17
• Court users are easily able
to generate a report of
overdue cases for the
orphans’ court bench.
• GTS accommodates
generation of paper overdue
notices in addition to
electronic notifications.
TRACKING GUARDIAN
COMPLIANCE
18
ELECTRONIC NOTIFICATIONS
TO GUARDIANS
• Overdue report notifications are automatically
sent at 1 day and 20 days overdue
• Reminder notices are sent 30 days prior to an
upcoming due date.
19
STATEWIDE ALERTS
ABOUT GUARDIANS
• Viewable statewide
• Electronic notification sent to court offices with an active case
• Require judicial authority to add or to remove an alert
• Accommodate extensive comments and attachment of documents
20
FLAGGING CONCERNS OF LOSS
“Courts should provide ample support for guardians while
rigorously enforcing reporting responsibilities…Use of
technology, such as an e-filing system with automatic
capacity to flag problems may be the most important trend
for monitoring in an age when funds for staff are scarce.”
‘Improving Protective Probate Practices: Assessment of Guardianship and Conservatorship Procedures
in Probate and Mental Health Departments of the Maricopa County Superior Court’ – National Center for
State Courts
21
STATISTICAL REPORTING
• Caseload statistical data
• Petitioner data
• Attorney representation data
• Guardian compensation data
• Asset protection data
22
GOING FORWARD
• Looking at information sharing between
the GTS and the Social Security
Administration regarding abusive
representative payees
• Future enhancements planned for the
GTS
23
Prior to
implementation
During the
migration to GTS
Today
Wong-Baker FACES Foundation (2018). Wong-Baker FACES® Pain Rating Scale. Retrieved [10/17/19] with permission from http://www.WongBakerFACES.org.
REACTIONS BY THE COURTS
TO THE GTS
24
WE NOW HAVE DATA!
• Total active number of guardianship
cases as of November:
• Total assets under supervision of
the Pennsylvania courts:
25
WE NOW HAVE DATA!
• Number of professional guardians
versus family/lay guardians:
• Number of professional guardians
that are organizations:
26
TAKE IT FROM US…
• Lessons learned
• Practical advice if you are
considering an electronic
tracking system for guardianship
monitoring in your state
27
THANK YOU FOR COMING!
Contact us:
Amy Whitworth:
Cherstin Hamel:
28