Report: Guardians overwhelmed
Humboldt County’s public guardians, or people who care for elderly or disabled residents, are severely under-funded and carry higher caseloads than counties of smaller size, the county’s civil grand jury finds in its latest report.
Released on Wednesday, the report flags large disparities in the average caseload of a public guardian in Humboldt County versus elsewhere. The jury calls for more budgeted funds, additional hiring and more reporting of information to the Patients’ Rights Advocate, which oversees people who come under the care of public guardians.
The jury’s recommendations come with urgency, since, it notes, guardians have had to care for a rapidly increasing number of patients each month since June 2019.
“There is every reason to believe that these disparities in total clients and clients-per-guardian between Humboldt and other counties will continue to grow, particularly because of the inevitable care which will be required for the aging “boomer” generation,” the report states.
The civil grand jury, a citizencomprised body, investigates different matters affecting Humboldt County’s various practices.
The jury issues a number of reports each year; the report released Wednesday is the sixth of eight to be published in 2020.
Among its recommendations, the jury calls on the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services to “hire an additional (fourth) deputy public guardian in order to ensure the office can manage its caseloads.”
Upon receiving a complaint, the jury investigated and found that the county was not giving the Patients Rights’ Advocate full information about patients under guardian care, including an unredacted daily census count.
The complaint to the jury alleged that “new implementations”
of the county’s “existing confidentiality policy were adversely affecting, and even potentially obstructing,” the Patients’ Rights Advocate’s state-mandated duties.
“Out of fear for going astray of the administration’s strict enforcement of confidentiality, the (advocate) has been reluctant to perform these duties,” the report states.
The jury calls on the county’s health department and Board of Supervisors to issue a response to the report within 60 days.