1357 - Guardianship Monitoring and Tracking System (GMTS)

The business opportunity identified by GMSI is to assist in the improvement of collecting accurate data; mitigate the risk of abuse and neglect of vulnerable adults subject to guardianship or conservatorship by developing a program that promotes and supports the tracking and monitoring of guardianship cases. The program would develop the necessary processes for tracking and monitoring the cases, strategize resource constraints by exploring alternatives such as volunteer opportunities for reviewing and auditing the cases, and developing a technology-based solution that facilitates the desired processes and outcomes for tracking and monitoring guardianship cases for compliance and reporting.

There is currently no statewide tracking and monitoring technology-based solution for guardianship cases, making the effort of tracking and monitoring largely a manual endeavor of re-creating cases outside of known case management systems and creating lists and spreadsheets. Further, practices for tracking and monitoring guardianship cases vary by Superior Court, and in most jurisdictions the practice is absent due to the lack of resources, processes, and tools. It is also important to note that two of the largest Washington State Superior Courts (King and Pierce) are not using the state-provided case management system.

Providing a technology-based solution available to all of the Washington State Superior Courts is desired to support and promote the practice of proactively tracking and monitoring the guardianship cases while maintaining consistency and efficiency.

Further, providing a technology-based solution is one of the opportunities learned from Spokane County Superior Court, who leads the way in the practice of tracking and monitoring of guardianship cases in Washington State, and from discussions with the guardianship community and court leaders for helping jumpstart the tracking and monitoring practice. As such, GMSI seeks to develop tracking and monitoring practices that will be embodied and facilitated by a statewide technology-based solution.

See attached GTMS Vision and Scope document. for high-level requirements and desired capabilities.

The expected benefits are intertwined within the program's goals and objectives. The GMSI program goals are:

1. To provide the courts information that verifies the location of an adult subject to guardianship; confirms the physical, emotional and financial well-being of adults subject to guardianship; and supports the court's determination regarding the continued appropriateness of guardianships or the option for less restrictive alternatives.
   
2. To strengthen the integrity and reliability of guardianship data and increase the court's capacity to track and monitor guardianships cases.
   
3. To engage with lay guardians to enhance their knowledge of court rules and processes and improve their understanding of the duties and powers entrusted to them by the court

In order to help meet the above goals, a tracking and monitoring technology-based solution that will embody and facilitate the desired or prescribed tracking and monitoring processes is needed. Objectives for the technology-based solution includes:

• The ability to track and monitor guardianship cases.
• Ability to conduct reviews and generate standardized reports for feedback to Judges to assist with continued appropriateness.
• Reduction of paper-handling and double data entry within the process of tracking and monitoring guardianship cases.
• Generate reports to qualitatively and quantitatively track and measure the progress and compliance of guardianship cases at the local and statewide level.
• A solution that can be used by all of the Superior Courts regardless of the case management system in use.

Success will be defined as:

• The program is able to deliver and implement a statewide technology-based solution for tracking and monitoring guardianship cases.
• Adoption of the technology-based guardianship monitoring and tracking solution by the Washington State's Superior Courts.
• The program is able to analyze data from the technology-based solution regarding non-compliance, delinquent guardianships, active guardianships, report due dates, and other required data points.
• There is measurable decline of noncompliant guardianship cases due to the pro-active tracking and monitoring of the cases.
• Increase in use of least restrictive alternatives including other protective arrangements.

See GTMS Vision and Scope document.