(1) The director shall establish, develop, and administer the office to serve indigent and incapacitated adults in need of guardianship in the second, seventh, and sixteenth judicial districts and shall coordinate its efforts with county departments of human services and county departments of social services within those districts. The director shall administer the office in accordance with the memorandum of understanding described in section 13-94-104 (4). Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, upon receiving funding sufficient to begin operations in the second judicial district, the office must begin operations in that judicial district prior to operating in any other district.
(2) In addition to carrying out any duties assigned by the commission, the director shall ensure that the office provides, at a minimum, the following services to the designated judicial districts:
A review of referrals to the office;
Adoption of eligibility criteria and prioritization to enable the office to serve individuals with the greatest needs when the number of cases in which services have been requested exceeds the number of cases in which public guardianship services can be provided;
Appointment and post-appointment public guardianship services of a guardiandesignee for each indigent and incapacitated adult in need of public guardianship;
Support for modification or termination of public guardianship services;
Recruitment, training, and oversight of guardian-designees;
Development of a process for receipt and consideration of, and response to, complaints against the office, to include investigation in cases in which investigation appears warranted in the judgment of the director;
Implementation and maintenance of a public guardianship data management system;
Office management, financial planning, and budgeting for the office to ensure compliance with this article 94;
Identification and establishment of relationships with stakeholder agencies, nonprofitorganizations, companies, individual care managers, and direct-care providers to provide services within the financial constraints established for the office;
Identification and establishment of relationships with local, state, and federal governmental agencies so that guardians and guardian-designees may apply for public benefits on behalf of wards to obtain funding and service support, if needed; and
Public education and outreach regarding the role of the office and guardiandesignees.
The director shall adopt professional standards of practice and a code of ethics forguardians and guardian-designees, including a policy concerning conflicts of interest.
On or before January 1, 2023, the director shall submit to the judiciary committees ofthe senate and the house of representatives, or to any successor committees, a report concerning the activities of the office. The report, at a minimum, must:
Quantify, to the extent possible, Colorado's unmet need for public guardianship services for indigent and incapacitated adults;
Quantify, to the extent possible, the average annual cost of providing guardianshipservices to indigent and incapacitated adults;
Quantify, to the extent possible, the net cost or benefit, if any, to the state that mayresult from the provision of guardianship services to each indigent and incapacitated adult in each judicial district of the state;
Identify any notable efficiencies and obstacles that the office incurred in providingpublic guardianship services pursuant to this article 94;
Assess whether an independent statewide office of public guardianship or a nonprofitagency is preferable and feasible;
Analyze costs and off-setting savings to the state from the delivery of public guardianship services;
Provide uniform and consistent data elements regarding service delivery in an aggregate format that does not include any personal identifying information of any adult; and
Assess funding models and viable funding sources for an independent office of public guardianship or a nonprofit agency, including the possibility of funding with a statewide increase in probate court filing fees.
In addition to performing the duties described in this section, the director, in consultation with the commission, shall develop a strategy for the discontinuation of the office in the event that the general assembly declines to continue or expand the office after 2023. The strategy must include consideration of how to meet the guardianship needs of adults who will no longer be able to receive guardianship services from the office.
Prior to employment, the office of public guardianship, pursuant to section 25-1.5103 (1)(a)(I)(A), shall submit the name of a person hired as a guardian or guardian's designee, as well as any other required identifying information, to the department of human services for a check of the Colorado adult protective services data system pursuant to section 26-3.1-111 to determine if the person is substantiated in a case of mistreatment of an at-risk adult.
Source: L. 2017: Entire article added, (HB 17-1087), ch. 319, p. 1717, § 1, effective June 5. L. 2019: (1), IP(4), and (5) amended, (HB 19-1045), ch. 366, p. 3362, § 2, effective July 1. L. 2020: (6) added, (HB 20-1302), ch. 265, p. 1274, § 8, effective September 14.