HB 427-GUARDIANS, CONSERVATORS, OPA, ETC.  REPRESENTATIVE TOM ANDERSON, sponsor of HB 427, told members that HB 427 is the result of conversations he has had with Josh Fink of the Office of Public Advocacy regarding the mistreatment of vulnerable adults who receive services from private guardians and conservators. Mr. Fink felt it important that Alaska be in parody with other states that have regulatory and supervisory statutes to prevent abuse. He sponsored this bill in concert with the Office of Public Advocacy and the Alaska State Association for Guardianship and Advocacy, Adult Protective Services, the Long Term Care Ombudsman, the Disability Law Center, the Senior Advocacy Coalition, AARP and the Alaska Court System. He explained that professional guardians and family guardians provide services to approximately 2,500 disabled, vulnerable adults in Alaska. Under current law, private guardians and conservators make legal, medical and housing decisions for those adults and are completely unregulated by the state. Disabled adults are obviously easy prey for those wishing to exploit their resources, so HB 427 would grant regulatory authority over private guardians and conservators and establish minimum qualifications and standards, which will help ensure that disabled adults get the help and care they deserve. HB 427 will require private guardians and conservators to meet certain criteria and to register with the state. Private guardians will have to be certified by the National Guardianship Foundation and have at least two years of professional experience working with clients or a degree in human services, social work, psychology, sociology, special education or a closely related field. HB 427 will also require guardians to have experience in financial management or a degree in accounting. This legislation prohibits private guardians from registering with the state and practicing in the state without a criminal background check. HB 427 allows the Division of Occupational Licensing to revoke a private guardian's license if the guardian has abandoned, neglected or exploited his or her ward or has become unfit due to professional incompetence. MR. JIM SHINE, staff to Representative Anderson, told members that since the legislature is under the 24-hour rule, it has been difficult to get in touch with the people who were instrumental in getting this legislation drafted but Mr. Parker was available to testify via teleconference. MR. JIM PARKER, Assistant Public Advocate, Office of Public Advocacy, said he is a member of the State Association of Guardianships and a member of the task force that was instrumental in drafting this legislation. CHAIR SEEKINS asked for an explanation of the changes made in Version S [CSHB 427(JUD)]. MR. PARKER stated that the House Judiciary Committee made no major changes. One change, suggested by the Division of Occupational Licensing, was to amend Title 8 rather than Title 13 regarding the qualifications of private guardians and conservators. CHAIR SEEKINS asked for an estimate of the number of conservators and guardians in the state. MR. PARKER said the great majority of persons appointed are family members. This bill does not cover people who are not in the business of providing guardianships or conservatorships. CHAIR SEEKINS asked if a family member would not be regulated. MR. PARKER said that is correct, although that person would be obligated to file reports with the court and receive some training. The State Association of Guardianships has created videotape for training purposes. Also, friends who act as guardians would not be regulated. SENATOR FRENCH asked if, outside the Office of Public Advocacy, there is a discrete group of people who act as professional guardians, and if Mr. Parker could estimate that number. MR. PARKER said about 10 or 12 people in Southcentral Alaska, fewer than optimal. SENATOR FRENCH asked if any of those people will be unable to continue to provide services if the requirements of the bill apply. MR. PARKER said he did not believe the legislation would disqualify anyone. SENATOR FRENCH referred to line 17 on page 2 and said a person cannot be licensed if convicted of a crime within 10 years of application. He asked if that would be 10 years from the date of judgment or 10 years from the date the probationary period expired. MR. PARKER said it would be 10 years from the date of conviction. He added that issue was discussed in the House. A guardian must be in good standing with a national organization; the only one that pertains to guardianships at this time is the National Guardianship Association (NGA). The NGA requires its test applicants to have a clean criminal record. SENATOR FRENCH said he mentioned it because a person could be convicted of a serious offense, get a 10-year sentence, but become a guardian right after serving that sentence. MR. PARKER said the House Judiciary Committee discussed that possibility. He assured Senator French that the NGA's standards are higher than those in the bill so that is not something to worry about. CHAIR SEEKINS noted that without further questions or participants, public testimony was closed. SENATOR THERRIAULT questioned how the Alaska Court System (ACS) can take on the additional responsibilities set out on page 13 if the fiscal notes are zero. He said it is his understanding that the ACS does not produce the report required under existing statute so this will add to that requirement. MR. SHINE told members that Doug Wooliver played a major role in the process of drafting this bill but was unable to attend due to a prior commitment. According to Mr. Wooliver, CSHB 427(JUD) will have no fiscal impact on the ACS. MR. JOSH FINK, Director of the Office of Public Advocacy, said he does not believe that requirement will trigger a fiscal note. Guardians are required to file annual reports and a visitor to the ACS must file a report every third year. The language [in existing statute] is ambiguous as to whether or not the visitor is to file a report annually, but the visitor cannot do that without access to the information every year. The point of a third year review by the visitor was to give the ACS input about how the guardianships were going, any problems, and whether any clients had improved and no longer needed guardianship services. SENATOR THERRIAULT said the language on page 13, lines 25-27, is an attempt to clarify the language that is being deleted on lines 27-28. However, language [in the previous paragraph] requires the guardian to submit a report to the ACS but the ACS is not tracking those reports and nothing is submitted. He said he does not know whether that is due to lack of resources, but he would like an answer as to why the ACS is willing to take on additional responsibility when it is not following the existing statute. He then referred to written correspondence in members' packets and asked who Mr. Robert Penzenik represents. MR. SHINE said he is a family guardian who lives in Anchorage. He testified in support of the bill before the House HESS Committee. SENATOR THERRIAULT asked what Mr. Penzenik's relationship is to the guardianship issue. MR. SHINE said Mr. Pensenik is a family guardian for his daughter. He stated in the House HESS Committee that this bill will not impact family guardians. SENATOR THERRIAULT asked if he acts as a guardian in any other arena. MR. SHINE said he works in conjunction with another conservator for other minors. REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON expressed concern that Mr. Wooliver could not answer members' questions. CHAIR SEEKINS stated that Senate President Therriault could determine whether this legislation should be waived from the Senate Finance Committee. He noted the chair of the Senate Finance Committee will have to be convinced that this bill will have no fiscal impact before agreeing to waive the bill. SENATOR FRENCH asked if guardians will pay a fee for licensure. MR. SHINE thought the fee would be $100 biennially. REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON noted the fee would cover the cost of licensure by the Division of Occupational Licensing. SENATOR FRENCH said the fiscal note is unclear as to whether licensees will pay $100 or $450. CHAIR SEEKINS indicated the Senate Finance Committee will want an answer to that question before agreeing to waive the bill. REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON agreed to get answers to those questions and distribute them to Senate Judiciary and Senate Finance members. If the Senate Finance Committee members are not satisfied with those answers, he will not request that the bill be waived from that committee. SENATOR THERRIAULT asked that the bill be held in committee to give him time to talk to Mr. Wooliver. CHAIR SEEKINS agreed and said he would schedule several bills that are being held over to the next day.