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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Ortiz y Pino

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/18/08

HB

SHORT TITLE Bernalillo Guardian Monitoring Study

SB 169

ANALYST Propst

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$200.0

Non-recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

DDPC Office of Guardianship

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 169, Making an Appropriation to Contract for a Feasibility Study of a Permanent

Program in Bernalillo County that Monitors Guardianships and Conservatorships, appropriates

$200 thousand from the general fund to the Department of Finance and Administration for the

purpose of conducting a study of the feasibility of a permanent program in Bernalillo County that

ensures the safety and well being of the population under the protection of guardianships and

conservatorships.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $200 thousand contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the

general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY09 shall

revert to the general fund.

Senate Bill 169 – Page 2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to the Administrative Office of the Courts, the pilot program would involve the

review of 500 randomly selected guardianships and conservatorships in Bernalillo County

through the use of special limited visitors. A statewide monitoring program, including budgetary

recommendations, could then be developed based upon the information collected. In the process,

the measure would provide immediate benefit to the hundreds of adults under guardianship

whose cases are reviewed.

The Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) notes that the bill does not indicate

whether the target population for the monitoring of guardianships and conservatorships includes

both children and adults. While both guardianships and conservatorships are established for

vulnerable adults, guardianships may also be established for children. Currently, the New

Mexico Children’s Code and the Probate Code have provisions for the establishment of

guardianships for children.

This bill does not require the creation of a program, but only that a study is conducted to

determine the feasibility of the creation of such a program.

CYFD further noted that the Adult Protective Services Act contains provisions for the

investigation of the abuse, neglect and/or exploitation of vulnerable adults and would provide a

mechanism to assess and protect vulnerable adults served through guardianship or

conservatorship if there were allegations of maltreatment or exploitation. Aging and Long Term

Services Department conducts adult protective services investigations.

The Office of Guardianship reports that it is not involved with conservatorships.

This study was among the recommendations of the recent HJM 34 Guardianship Task Force

Final Report (dated Oct. 19, 2007) – but only regarding guardianship, and not related to

conservatorships. The Office of Guardianship coordinated this Task Force with the contract

support by Protection & Advocacy.

The Office of Guardianship contract guardians are only a small subset (about 10%) of the overall

total number of guardians that also include family and private pay guardians.

The Task Force, as required by the Memorial, invited representatives from the developmental

disabilities planning council, the administrative office of the courts, the adult protective services

division of the aging and long-term services department, the department of health, other

appropriate state agencies, New Mexico district court judges, the New Mexico guardianship

association, the protection and advocacy system, the senior citizens law office, individual and

corporate guardians, elders, individuals with disabilities, advocates or other representatives of

elders or adults with disabilities and other interested individuals.

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