Good Guardianship and Autonomy Preservation Coalition (G-GAP) Informational Kickoff

Good Guardianship and Autonomy Preservation Coalition (G-GAP)

Event Slides

Event Recording

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Background: With a rising population of aging adults and increasing longevity for individuals with disabilities, there is a continued and escalating need for a more robust continuum of care and services to help preserve quality of life and autonomy. In New York State (NYS), work should be done to reduce reliance on the guardianship system. And when guardianship cannot be avoided, people should have access to a good guardian regardless of resources and circumstance.

New York State has no official public guardianship program, and the current “guardian of last resort” scheme is under-resourced, overburdened, and falls short of meeting the need. Courts struggle to find high-quality guardians for people with no family or friend supports and an inability to afford a private guardian. It is even more difficult if the person’s situation is complex. (For more information on the guardianship landscape in NYS, read here.)

Goal: The Good Guardianship and Autonomy Preservation Coalition (G-GAP) aims to create a multi-sector network to work together to increase support for older adults and people with disabilities in NYS, partner to prevent unnecessary guardianships, define alternative decision-making support options, and deliver the least restrictive decision-making supports tailored to a person’s needs.

What: A multipurpose coalition to exchange ideas and information, create partnership opportunities and, ultimately, increase services to reduce the overall need for guardianship and, when all else fails, ensure that those who require guardianship have equal access regardless of income and case complexity. We are seeking a multidisciplinary statewide membership including, but not limited to courts, government partners, social and legal service providers, aging and disabilities services, advocates, academic institutions, guardians, and healthcare systems.

The coalition will assist in planning an environmental scan of services, systems, needs, and gaps across the state as they relate to how we care for older adults and people with disabilities. A multidisciplinary and geographically diverse coalition will uncover what areas need new services, and which ones need resources to increase efficacy or geographic reach of preexisting ones.

We will create a forum for the coalition to increase collaboration and break silos. There will be cross-training opportunities related to regional issues facing older adults, people with disabilities, and service-providers and different approaches, programming, and innovations. Depending on member interest, we could work on opportunities to participate in policy and legislative advocacy. In the future, we will plan roundtables and webinars to further this learning and share future findings with the goal of building a lasting network of statewide providers to make good guardianship available when needed, while reducing the number of guardianships with alternatives, community supports, and educational tools.