New York state lawmakers have introduced legislation to boost spending on the state’s troubled guardianship system by $15 million a year — an unprecedented cash infusion for a bureaucracy that has long struggled to care for the tens of thousands of disabled or elderly New Yorkers who cannot care for themselves.
By law, judges appoint guardians to manage the health and financial matters of people they deem incapacitated, and these guardians are then compensated from the estates of their wards. But there are not enough guardians to serve the roughly 30,000 New Yorkers who need them, and the new bill, called the Good Guardianship Act, aims to help the most vulnerable segment of this population: those who are too poor to pay for a private guardian and who have no family or friends willing to serve.
In the industry, they are known as “the unbefriended,” and the millions in new funding would flow to a statewide network of nonprofit guardians who serve them.
The proposal follows a 2024 ProPublica investigation that revealed how the state’s guardianship system was failing this group in particular by conducting little to no oversight of guardians, some of whom provided substandard care and exploited those they were charged with looking after.
The stories prompted the state attorney general to open an investigation into several guardianship providers and spurred the court system to appoint a special counsel to enact reforms. But advocates said the Good Guardianship Act presents the most promising step to date in improving the system — if it can get the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The legislation mirrors the recommendations of a task force appointed by the governor last summer, yet Hochul has not said whether she supports the plan and did not include any funding for guardianships in the $260 billion executive budget she recently unveiled.
“What’s it going to take for the governor to pay attention to guardianship and realize there’s a viable solution on the table?” said Kimberly George, who runs a nonprofit that serves about 160 New York City wards and helps lead Guardianship Access New York, a coalition of groups that’s pushing the bill in Albany.
A spokesperson for Hochul, a Democrat who is running for reelection, said the governor will review the legislation.
In recent years, Albany has provided just $1 million to help fund a statewide guardianship hotline, which provides advice for people considering guardianship for their relatives or friends. But the Good Guardianship Act would provide considerably more guardians for those who need them, effectively ensuring that qualified nonprofit groups with a history of providing guardianship services are available to be appointed by judges in cases involving the unbefriended.
To ensure that state funding only goes to what the legislation calls “reputable” nonprofits, groups must be in good standing with a state regulator and their guardianship plans and funding requests must be reviewed by a contractor picked by the director of the state’s Office for the Aging.
Assembly Member Charles Lavine, a Long Island Democrat who chairs the Assembly Judiciary Committee and introduced the legislation, expressed confidence that the bill would pass this session, noting it has no opposition and fixes a readily identifiable problem.
“It’s time that we did something to be able to provide those who are in actual, real need,” he said in an interview. “We believe we are working in the right direction.”
Lavine hosted a roundtable last fall focused on confronting what he dubbed “the crisis” in the guardianship system, describing it as being “stretched very, very thin.”
The legislation also has the support of legislative leaders in the state Senate — including its powerful majority leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, her spokesperson said.
State Sen. Cordell Cleare, a Harlem Democrat who chairs the Aging Committee, is shepherding the bill through the chamber. It’s on the panel’s agenda for Wednesday and is expected to be adopted.