On December 2, Kimberly George, President and CEO of Project Guardianship, testified before the New York State Assembly at a hearing on Adult Protective Services and elder financial exploitation. Her testimony explained how financial abuse of older adults often leads to guardianship as a last-resort safety net. She also shared a real case demonstrating how guardianship protected a vulnerable older New Yorker and outlined a growing statewide crisis: New York does not have enough qualified guardians for courts to appoint.
She closed with a call for the State to invest $15 million in a statewide network of nonprofit guardianship providers to ensure access to protection, improve outcomes, prevent unnecessary institutionalization, create jobs, and save the State tens of millions of dollars each year.