The Florida Senate

744.7021  Statewide Public Guardianship Office.--There is hereby created the Statewide Public Guardianship Office within the Department of Elderly Affairs. The Department of Elderly Affairs shall provide administrative support and service to the office to the extent requested by the executive director within the available resources of the department. The Statewide Public Guardianship Office may request the assistance of the Inspector General of the Department of Elderly Affairs in providing auditing services, and the Office of General Counsel of the department may provide assistance in rulemaking and other matters as needed to assist the Statewide Public Guardianship Office. The Statewide Public Guardianship Office shall not be subject to control, supervision, or direction by the Department of Elderly Affairs in the performance of its duties.

(1)  The head of the Statewide Public Guardianship Office is the executive director, who shall be appointed by the Governor. The executive director must be a licensed attorney with a background in guardianship law and knowledge of social services available to meet the needs of incapacitated persons, shall serve on a full-time basis, and shall personally, or through representatives of the office, carry out the purposes and functions of the Statewide Public Guardianship Office in accordance with state and federal law. The executive director shall serve at the pleasure of and report to the Governor.

(2)  The Statewide Public Guardianship Office shall, within available resources, have oversight responsibilities for all public guardians.

(a)  The office shall review the current public guardian programs in Florida and other states.

(b)  The office, in consultation with local guardianship offices, shall develop statewide performance measures and standards.

(c)  The office shall review the various methods of funding guardianship programs, the kinds of services being provided by such programs, and the demographics of the wards. In addition, the office shall review and make recommendations regarding the feasibility of recovering a portion or all of the costs of providing public guardianship services from the assets or income of the wards.

(d)  No later than October 1, 2000, the office shall submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court an interim report describing the progress of the office in meeting the goals as described in this section. No later than October 1, 2001, the office shall submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court a proposed public guardianship plan including alternatives for meeting the state's guardianship needs. This plan may include recommendations for less than the entire state, may include a phase-in system, and shall include estimates of the cost of each of the alternatives. Each year thereafter, the office shall provide a status report and provide further recommendations to address the need for public guardianship services and related issues.

(e)  The office may provide assistance to local governments or entities in pursuing grant opportunities. The office shall review and make recommendations in the annual report on the availability and efficacy of seeking Medicaid matching funds. The office shall diligently seek ways to use existing programs and services to meet the needs of public wards.

(f)  The office shall develop a guardianship training program. The training program may be offered to all guardians whether public or private. The office shall establish a curriculum committee to develop the training program specified in this part. The curriculum committee shall include, but not be limited to, probate judges. A fee may be charged to private guardians in order to defray the cost of providing the training. In addition, a fee may be charged to any training provider for up to the actual cost of the review and approval of their curriculum. Any fees collected pursuant to this paragraph shall be deposited in the Department of Elderly Affairs Administrative Trust Fund to be used for the guardianship training program.

(3)  The office may conduct or contract for demonstration projects, within funds appropriated or through gifts, grants, or contributions for such purposes, to determine the feasibility or desirability of new concepts of organization, administration, financing, or service delivery designed to preserve the civil and constitutional rights of persons of marginal or diminished capacity. Any gifts, grants, or contributions for such purposes shall be deposited in the Department of Elderly Affairs Administrative Trust Fund.

(4)  The office has authority to adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to carry out the provisions of this section.

History.--s. 4, ch. 99-277.