The chair of the New York City Council’s Committee on Aging has called for Governor Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders to reform the state’s troubled guardianship system. This action follows a ProPublica investigation revealing that elderly and infirm New Yorkers are often living in poor conditions under court-mandated oversight.
City Councilmember Crystal Hudson recently introduced a resolution aimed at prompting Albany to address the needs of individuals whom judges have deemed incapable of managing their affairs, a group traditionally lacking political influence and strong advocacy.
Hudson stated, “Too many people have been failed by this system, and a real overhaul is long overdue. We need a system that instills confidence — one that guarantees people in need of guardianships a dignified existence.”
Currently, over 28,000 people across New York State are under the care of court-appointed guardians, with nearly 60% residing in New York City.
Hudson’s proposed legislation, which advocates for state funding to support low-income New Yorkers within the guardianship system, will be discussed in public hearings later this fall.
The resolution cites a series of ProPublica articles from this year showing that many residents without family or friends receive inadequate care from the non-profits and private attorneys appointed by judges to oversee their welfare. Termed “the unbefriended” in the guardianship industry, these individuals are often left without proper support.
ProPublica found an insufficient number of guardians and an even smaller number of overseers, known as examiners, to monitor the guardians’ actions. Court staff shortages have exacerbated the situation, leading to significant delays in the annual evaluations of guardians’ care. Even when these evaluations are completed, the focus is primarily on financial documents, with minimal direct interaction with wards.
These deficiencies have led to cases of neglect and financial exploitation. One woman lived for years in a heatless, pest-infested home without intervention from her guardian or examiner. Another guardian used over half of her ward’s life savings to pay for services from her own business, a conflict of interest that a judge allowed to persist.
Hudson’s resolution urges legislative leaders and the governor to improve the system by allocating state funds for additional guardians. Presently, the system is largely unfunded, causing judges to request that lawyers take on cases pro bono or assign them to nonprofits, which then draw fees from the wards’ accounts. Counties sometimes cover these costs, but the service providers they contract are often overburdened and understaffed.
To address these issues, the legislation recommends a plan developed by Guardianship Access New York (GANY), a coalition of nonprofit providers. This plan calls for a substantial and ongoing investment of $15 million annually to support nonprofit guardianship services, similar to a publicly funded model used in Florida. This funding would assist vetted organizations in serving around 1,500 New Yorkers each year, ensuring ethical, reliable, and effective guardianship.
Kimberly George, a leader of GANY and head of Project Guardianship, a nonprofit that serves 160 New York City wards, remarked that while the proposal wouldn’t fix the entire system, it represents a significant step forward.
“The availability of reliable guardians would reduce the necessity for judges to appoint questionable ones,” she commented.
Despite the shortcomings, judges continue to rely on certain guardianship companies that have demonstrably failed to meet the needs of several wards. For example, one company continued to collect fees from an elderly man after he had left the country and even after his death. This company, serving hundreds of poor New Yorkers, still receives new appointments.
The city’s resolution coincides with the state court system developing its own guardianship reform proposals for the upcoming legislative session. An advisory committee of judges and lawyers has suggested creating a “fully funded statewide entity” to act as a public guardian at an estimated cost of $72 million, to serve the “unbefriended” across the state.
The committee also recommended increasing compensation for court examiners and evaluators, with funds allocated from existing budgets for indigent criminal defense, rather than from wards’ personal resources.
A court spokesperson affirmed the judiciary’s support for a statewide public guardianship program and additional funding for guardianships, particularly for those most financially constrained.
State lawmakers last revisited the guardianship system 30 years ago with the passage of Article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law. More recently, during budget negotiations, they allocated just $1 million for a statewide helpline, despite requests for $5 million to address more significant issues highlighted by ProPublica.
While spokespeople for Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and Governor Hochul did not provide comments on Hudson’s resolution, advocates remain hopeful. Governor Hochul has previously shown a willingness to support related issues. In 2022, she signed a bill allowing individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to make decisions about their own lives rather than being under guardianship.
At the bill signing, Governor Hochul emphasized the role of government in improving the lives of the vulnerable, stating, “If there’s any issue that comes to our attention where a wrong needs to be righted, we will take the pen and do just that.”
