What Is the
Guardian and Conservator Program?
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activities. It is as much about the way professionals and clients think about care and their relationships as the actual services available Many of our clients do not have family or other supports and, in many cases, have been marginalized by society. We act as advocates for our clients and are often thought of as surrogate family members. In the last fiscal year, we employed six staff members who have backgrounds in social work, human services, accounting and administration support. We are contracted to serve clients through Winona, Fillmore, Goodhue, Olmsted, Ramsey, and Steele Counties. Some of our clients are private pay. We are serving most of our clients in the Winona and surrounding area, but depending on their needs and the availability of appropriate placement, we have also served clients living in Harmony, Duluth, Moorhead, Franklin, the Twin Cities, Red Wing, Hastings, Rochester, St. Peter, Austin, Albert Lea, Owatonna, Faribault, LeRoy, Pipestone, Wabasha, Northfield, La Crescent, Caledonia, Houston, Chatfield, Lake City, Little Falls, and Kellogg. We strive to see our clients a minimum of once a month with the exception of those living in the far reaching areas of the state whom we see twice a year and as needed. Clients served ranged in age from 18 on up. We are continuing to provide the needed service to our clients during the COVID-19 shut down through phone calls, Face Time and Zoom. We are taking all the precautions as we provide personal care needed by our clients. We are available to our clients when they need us by a 24-hour on-call system. We continue to strive to be the first choice among referring agencies and sources for guardianships and conservatorships and in the last year we have found that our referral source network has expanded greatly. For more information, visit our website at www.ccsomn.org.
Catholic Charities
finances; assisting in locating and obtaining entitled services (such as medical assistance, social Pam Boyd security and/or veterans benefits) and employDirector ment; and overall coordination of services to Guardian Conservator Program ensure that the highest quality of care possible is Catholic Charities of Southern MN offered to each client. We strive to promote independence and pursue the least restrictive setting for our clients. We provide a person-centered approach to working he Catholic Charities Guardian & Conservator with each client. Person-centered care is a way Program provides much needed assistance to of thinking and doing things that sees the people clients who have been deemed incapacitated by a using health and social services as equal partners judge of the district court. A guardian is someone in planning, developing and monitoring care to who has been given legal court authority to make make sure it meets their needs. This means putsome or all personal decisions for an individual ting people and their families at the center of who is unable to make his or her decisions and seeing them as experts, own decisions because of an injury, Person-centered working alongside professionals illness or disability. A conservator is to get the best outcome. Personsomeone who has been given legal care is a way of centered care is not just about giving and court authority to make deci- thinking and doing people whatever they want or prosions regarding a person’s property things that sees viding information. It is about considand financial affairs. ering people’s desires, values, family The clients we serve may be the people using situations, social circumstances and developmentally disabled, seriously health and social lifestyles; seeing the person as an and persistently mentally ill, chemiindividual, and working together to cal and/or drug dependent, physi- services as equal develop appropriate solutions. Being cally frail/impaired, cognitively partners in compassionate, thinking about things impaired, or experiencing complex from the person’s point of view and medical diagnoses. Our clients live planning, being respectful are all important. in a variety of settings including developing and This might be shown through sharresidential group homes, corporate ing decisions with clients and helping monitoring care to foster care, skilled nursing care cenpeople manage their health, but perters, assisted living facilities and make sure it meets son-centered care is not just about independent living settings. their needs. Specific examples of services provided to clients through the Guardian & Conservator Program include attending medical appointments; giving legal consent for treatments, medications and procedures; finding better suited placement or living arrangements for clients when needed; shopping with and for clients; coordinating the sale of real estate or other valuable items on behalf of clients (with court approval); managing
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May 2020 w The Courier w dowr.org
