New York’s guardianship system — where people deemed unfit to care for themselves are placed in the hands of third parties — has for years left thousands of residents isolated and sometimes in squalor, a new investigation by ProPublica found.
Judges and state examiners are required by a state law passed in 1992 to oversee the vast number of New Yorkers who lose control of their lives and finances. But the investigation found just a dozen judges and 157 examiners oversee more than 17,000 guardianship cases in the city.
The lack of oversight has dire consequences. ProPublica found that several nonprofits are each assigned hundreds of wards – people deemed unfit to care for themselves – through the system. Some of those nonprofits have misled state officials about the quality of care they provide.
ProPublica shared the investigation exclusively with Gothamist and WNYC.
The guardianship system has mostly gained attention through cases involving celebrities like Britney Spears and Brooke Astor. The new investigation highlights how some poor, vulnerable New Yorkers are neglected by the same guardians tasked with protecting them.
In one case, Judith Zbiegniewicz — an elderly New Yorker suffering from depression and anxiety after her father’s death — entered guardianship after someone reported her to Adult Protective Services. Her life went into a downward spiral as the nonprofit in charge of her care ignored years of complaints about dreadful living conditions. The nonprofit withdraws $450 in monthly compensation from its wards’ accounts while providing as little care as possible, according to former employees and court documents examined by ProPublica.
The 1992 law reformed the state’s guardianship system with the goal of preventing wards from being exploited by their guardians. The law’s drafters intended to give those in the system more independence, but ProPublica found the process is now in disarray with little oversight.
Kristin Booth Glen, a former…
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