Volunteer Guardian Program launches

Multiple community organizations partner to ‘improve quality of life’

Lake County is announcing the creation of a new volunteer guardian program.

The Lake County Volunteer Guardian Program is the result of a partnership between the Lake County Probate Court and Lifeline, Inc., the county’s community action agency whose mission is to respond to the needs and improve the quality of life for all residents. And, it was made possible with the help of several funding sources, including the Lake County Senior Services Levy, Lake Health and the Lake County ADAMHS Board.

“Realizing that our aging population in Lake County was going to present significant new challenges, my colleagues and I on the Board of Commissioners in 2015 authorized a comprehensive study to identify gaps in senior citizen services that would need to be addressed,” said Commissioner Daniel Troy.

The conclusions of the study were reaffirmed by assessments conducted by other agencies, the Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry and Lifeline, for example.

“When Lake County

citizens approved the Senior Services levy last fall, it moved the task of creating and structuring this volunteer guardianship program from concept to reality,” Troy said. “I’m excited about this great collaborative partnership of the commissioners, Lake Health, the ADAMHS Board and its wonderful network of notfor-profit service agencies, and, of course, Lifeline.

“I’m also very proud of the fact that, once again, we have found a way to work together to ensure the best quality of life in our county, and especially that of our senior citizens.”

According to a news release from the commissioners’ office, the volunteer guardian program will provide legal guardians to serve as concerned, caring advocates and surrogate decision-makers for adults classified as indigent or incompetent who cannot care for themselves.

The program will work across systems and organizations to jointly resolve complex life barriers presented by persons in need of a guardian, and will utilize both paid staff and volunteers.

Lake County Probate Judge Mark Bartolotta said he’s very excited to have his court partner with Lifeline and the commissioners’ office to establish the new program.

“With the changes in our population, the need for this continues to grow every year, as more and more people are unable to care for themselves. After several years of planning, this launch is the culmination of tremendous efforts by many dedicated professionals to bring this most important program into existence. It will provide a valuable and necessary service to those citizens who are in need of assistance in their lives, because in Lake County, we take care of our own.”

Lifeline plans to begin training staff in early October, after which time volunteer recruitment will begin.

Volunteer guardians will be needed, the release stated, to look after the emotional, social, financial and physical well-being of these vulnerable adults.

“We will work with the probate court to create a strong and comprehensive volunteer guardian program,” said Carrie Dotson, executive director of Lifeline. “The need for increased guardianship services came up time and again in the focus groups for our 2017 Lake County Community Needs Assessment, and we’re so pleased to be able to fill that gap and be a part of the solution.

“We’re very thankful to our funding partners for making this program possible and we’re looking forward to getting it up and running.”