This page includes all public information about the Guardianship Improvement Task Force, including upcoming meeting information, past meeting information and recordings, press releases, and news about the Task Force.
Live Stream: Online viewing options will be available via YouTube and public comments can made through WebEx
Meeting Materials:
Recording: A recording of the meeting is available below
Meeting Materials:
2. In-Person Meeting Parking Details
Recording: A recording of the meeting is available below
Meeting Materials:
2. PowerPoint Presentation: Professional Guardianship Perspective
3. PowerPoint Presentation: Court-Appointed Attorney Perspective
Recording: A recording of the meeting is available below
Meeting Materials:
1. Meeting Agenda
2. Source Document: Broward County Court Monitor Procedures AO 2019-26-PRC
3. PowerPoint Presentation: Education, Regulation, and Discipline of Professional Guardians
4. PowerPoint Presentation: Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida Court Monitor Model (Orange and Osceola Counties)
5. PowerPoint Presentation: Relationship of the Clerk/IG, the Court and the Court Monitor
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Guardianship Improvement Task Force will hold a virtual meeting on Thursday, September 2nd from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., EDT… READ MORE
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Guardianship Improvement Task Force will hold a virtual meeting on Thursday, August 19, from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., EDT… READ MORE
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Guardianship Improvement Task Force will hold a virtual meeting on Thursday, August 5, from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., EDT… READ MORE
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, the Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers (FCCC) announced the formation of the Guardianship Improvement Task Force (Task Force). The Task Force will be sponsored and supported by FCCC, and members will work together to study the status of current guardianships in Florida and offer positive legislative recommendations leading… READ MORE
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Guardianship Improvement Task Force will hold a virtual meeting on Thursday, July 22, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., EDT… READ MORE
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, the Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers (FCCC) announced the formation of the Guardianship Improvement Task Force (Task Force). The Task Force will be sponsored and supported by FCCC, and members will work together to study the status of current guardianships in Florida and offer positive legislative recommendations leading… READ MORE
Michael Lincoln-McCreight is a former guardianship ward who has had his rights restored and now serves as a member of the Guardianship Improvement Task Force. At the task force’s August 19 meeting, which was devoted to looking at recent reforms enacted in other states and hearing from two guardianship experts, Lincoln-McCreight wanted to know the selection process for the three members of competency committees who review potential wards in Florida guardianship cases and how “supportive” decisionmaking could be used to help wards retain some rights.… READ MORE
Attorneys for two hospitals asked an Orange County judge Wednesday to dismiss for a second time a negligence lawsuit filed by the family of a man who died while under the care of former Orlando guardian Rebecca Fierle… READ MORE
Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller Sharon Bock won a national award for a guardianship fraud program that in…READ MORE
A fraud-fighting program that’s become a model statewide for protecting vulnerable retirees has won national recognition for the Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller….READ MORE
SCOTT SIGNS BILL GIVING CLERKS MORE POWER TO FIGHT GUARDIANSHIP FRAUD
Gov. Rick Scott has signed a bill originating out of Palm Beach County giving clerks of court statewide more power to….READ MORE
In one case, a father allegedly splurged thousands of dollars on himself and his girlfriend from an inheritance his daughter’s mother had left her when she died. In another, a mother inexplicably spent more than $20,000 from her son’s lawsuit settlement….READ MORE
Lacy Waters lay on a hospital gurney, her head a hornet’s nest of pain and confusion. Between the brain parasites and the drugs designed to kill them, she could hardly think — let alone answer questions. Yet that was exactly what the strangers at her bedside now demanded. As the 45-year-old Nicaraguan maid with a grade-school education desperately tried to recall the names of American presidents, the three men made careful notes on their clipboards….READ MORE
This week’s feature is a bit different, however. Yes, there are kidnappings, accusations of fraud, and brain-eating tapeworms, but it is, at heart, an investigation into something most Floridians have never heard of: guardianship abuse…READ MORE
As our nation’s population continues to age, the importance of independent monitoring of guardianship grows as well. Monitoring is critical to protecting society’s most vulnerable individuals—older individuals with dementia, younger individuals with disabilities, and minors. The Clerk & Comptroller, Palm Beach County’s Division of Inspector General team performs highly specialized, in-depth audits and investigations of guardianships…. READ MORE
The Florida Developmental Disabilities Council commissioned a research study to examine guardianship restorations among persons with developmental disabilities. Guardian Trust co- sponsored the project… READ MORE
Just about anyone you talk to these days who has an elderly grandparent, parent, or even aunt or uncle, can share a story of someone being taken advantage of by an alleged loved one. Sadly, fraud by court-appointed guardians is a growing, but under-reported domestic crime…READ MORE
Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, came out swinging Tuesday, filing SB 634, legislation aimed at preventing the abuse of vulnerable Floridians by unscrupulous guardians… READ MORE
Legal guardians are entrusted with the protection of central Florida’s most vulnerable residents, but a three-month Eyewitness News investigation has uncovered over-billing and neglect complaints in the statewide guardianship system… READ MORE
A Lake Worth woman acting as a guardian for her son was arrested last week after she stole more than $37,000 from her son’s guardianship bank account, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said…… READ MORE
We don’t normally report on crime that has no direct link to Boca Raton, but the arrest of a former Lake Worth man — now living in Nashville — is worthy of wide coverage. The man allegedly misused guardian funds allocated for his daughter.… READ MORE
A man who splits his time between Nashville and Palm Beach County is accused of frittering away his daughter’s $58,000 inheritance from her late mother — who died in 2011… READ MORE
First-grade teacher Natalie Varonok moved to Palm Beach County to enjoy her retirement with her close family… READ MORE
Palm Beach County Clerk Sharon Bock said Wednesday her office has found more than $1 million in “questionable expenses” by guardians appointed to act of behalf of wards of the court in the year since she launched the county’s Guardianship Fraud Hotline…READ MORE
A guardian insists on buying a 56-inch flat-screen TV for his ward — a woman who court auditors later discover lives in a Palm Beach County care facility and has lost much of her memory to Alzheimer’s..… READ MORE
More than 2,500 Palm Beach County children, elderly and disabled residents who depend on a court-appointed guardian to manage their finances may now have additional protection against fraud or misuse of their money.… READ MORE
A new Palm Beach County hotline unveiled Monday allows people to report suspected fraud, waste or mismanagement by guardians of the elderly, children or incapacitated.… READ MORE