When cases are complex or family members are unable to serve, Project Guardianship is there
Our highly regarded service model of multidisciplinary teams and our attention to detail makes us unique. We visit clients as often as necessary and, at minimum, once a month. We are available and on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
The services and interventions that Project Guardianship provides for the clients under our care are many. The outcomes these interventions achieve for our clients are:
- Personal safety
- Financial safety
- Healthy living/aging
- Autonomy
- Living in the least restrictive setting
- Dying with dignity
Please see Project Guardianship Outcomes and Interventions for the full array of direct services and interventions that Project Guardianship provides and how these services provide positive outcomes for our clients.
Case Management
Case Managers spend most of their time in the field, visiting clients at least once a month in their homes, and in nursing homes, hospitals, and other facilities. Case Managers also spend a great deal of time advocating for their clients with other providers (e.g., home care providers); managing medical visits and coordinating transportation; reviewing benefits; and attending to other client needs such as the purchasing food and ensuring the safety of the home environment.
Benefits Management
Our benefits management department assesses the social services and income needs of our clients, and their eligibility for government benefits and entitlements. We apply for and re-certify a client for a variety of benefits whenever necessary.
With the finance department, the benefits department reviews client assets and income to avoid the potential loss of SSI and Medicaid benefits. Over 80% of Project Guardianship clients are active Medicaid recipients. We also help many of our clients secure new housing benefits, such as NYCHA/Section 8 and SCRIE/DRIE support.
Client Finance Management
Some of the first steps that the client finance department undertakes on behalf of a new client is the marshaling of their assets and income to safeguard them, and then the creation of a budget to effectively manage their monthly income, bills, and expenses. The team is also the first line of defense against the financial exploitation and abuse of our clients.
Client finance managers also often oversee Medicaid planning for clients. For example, clients who have assets over $15,750 (as of 2020) are not eligible for Medicaid. However, privately paying for home care or nursing home care can quickly deplete resources. By setting up a Supplemental Needs trust (SNT), a client can become eligible so that Medicaid will pay for care, while funds in the Trust can supplement other needs (such as maintaining a home, rent, food, clothing, etc.).
Legal Services
Project Guardianship serves as a legal guardian to its clients and our staff attorneys ensure that we comply with the powers and authority outlined in court guardianship orders.
Our legal team represents Project Guardianship in court proceedings related to a person’s guardianship and seeks court approval for big decisions such as selling real property, permanently placing a client in a facility, and even terminating the guardianship because it is no longer necessary. Staff attorneys also work closely with court administrators and oversee the filing of mandatory reporting to the courts.
Our legal team also advocates for our clients in collateral matters such as in fair hearings for housing and benefit entitlements, landlord/tenant court, and foreclosure proceedings. Our team will also refer matters of financial exploitation and abuse (such as deed theft cases) to the proper law enforcement agencies and institutions.
The legal team is also highly involved with end-of-life decision making and compliance with the Family Health Care Decisions Act (FHCDA).
Home and Property Management
For all clients, whether landlords or tenants, the property management team performs property assessments of client residences. The team also assesses the conditions and safety of the home environment and works with landlords and contractors to make structural accommodations and home safety modifications (such as ramps, widened doorways, and grab bars in bathrooms), and to address housing code violations. Often, the team is called in to perform a clean-out or extermination of a cluttered or hoarded residence.
For property-owning clients, Project Guardianship acts as the landlord and oversees home maintenance and repairs, utilities and services to the home, the leasing of rental units and collection of rental income, and the removal of violations and illegal conversions.
Our property management efforts ensure safe living conditions for our clients, maintain property values and the safeguarding of assets, and, very importantly, makes it possible for many of our clients to remain in or return to their homes.