Updated 2/29/24 with statement from OPG board.

The state’s beleaguered Office of Public Guardianship (OPG) — which faced complaints from seven former guardians who have called for a state audit and for the governor to replace the agency’s leadership — is now the subject of a civil rights complaint.

The complaint has not been made public, but the OPG board was scheduled to discuss it during Wednesday’s monthly meeting. However, because only four of the five board members — a sixth recently resigned — were present, the meeting was adjourned for lack of a two-thirds majority to go into executive session.

During the meeting, the commission heard from several members of the public, including two of the seven signatories to a Feb. 5 letter sent to the governor asking for intervention.

Former guardian Jacqueline Beal questioned whether there any guardians in the Denver office, responsible for in-person meetings with the office’s 80-plus clients.

The letter to Gov. Jared Polis said there were only two guardians in the office and that both are remote, based in Trinidad and Delta. 

National standards for guardianship require monthly in-person meetings, although the wards are in Denver. 

Beal said the office’s director and assistant director “are not able to continue to handle this” in the condition the office is in.

Former guardian Erin McGavin asked whether those remote guardians have taken on the responsibility of meeting with the wards and “doing what is needed to make sure these (wards) are safe.” She also questioned whether the two remote guardians are commuting to visit those wards, and who’s paying for it, and if either have been nationally certified.

The OPG website does not indicate the national certification of the two guardians, although one is pursuing certification, the website said. 

Board members were asked earlier this month to respond to the letter. To date, none of them has.

Neither the board nor the director responded to questions on Wednesday.

“I’m distressed by the letter from the former guardians,” said Maureen Welch of Navigating Disability Colorado.

With a son who will one day become an at-risk adult, Welch has been a longtime critic of OPG. 

Welch told the commission she would like every board member to question themselves as to the organization they’re serving. She said there are not enough guardians to handle the fiduciary responsibility to the wards. 

Welch also noted previous stories by Colorado Politics, in which Polis pledged better oversight of OPG, but that has not happened.

The number of deaths among the wards, at least 27 (another died last weekend), is unbelievable, Welch said. She complimented the former guardians for sharing their ethical concerns about the office. 

While the board could not go into executive session, vice-chair Brandon Fields noted everyone had seen a recent report from Colorado Politics on the Feb. 5 letter and is drafting a response to that article.

Since the Feb. 20 Colorado Politics article pointed out the office’s 2023 annual report was nowhere to be found, the report is now on the OPG website’s home page.

The reporting period, which covered Oct. 1, 2022 through Sept. 30, 2023, reported there were 10 guardians in the office, although, by Feb. 5, they were down to two, according to the website and the letter.

According to the letter, 10 guardians resigned in 2023, including all the office’s original guardians. Seven signatories to the letter were listed on the OPG annual report. Aside from the director, three guardians who resigned were the only ones certified by the National Guardianship Association.

The report noted the office received 117 referrals in its history, with 81 current wards and 25 on hold due to “current caseload capacity.”

The wards’ ages ranged from 20s to 90s, with a median age of 63, and nearly half over the age of 65. The report pointed out seven wards are between the ages of 21 and 30.

About one-third of the wards suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, dementia disorder or other neurocognitive disorders. Another third suffer from mental illness or psychiatric conditions, and almost half have additional medical conditions.

During the reporting period, another six clients died, the report said. 

The report’s comment on the staffing issue pointed out that the office had located and hired “qualified guardians, allowing the COPG to expand into the 7th and 16th Judicial Districts after several months of delay due to the widespread labor shortage.”

But the report also noted guardian turnover, which “prevented the Office from increasing caseload capacity in all judicial districts.”

The office “intends to implement a Workforce Development Manager to Pilot an Employee Wellness Program for recruitment and retention purposes in 2024,” the report said.

The report also noted guardians are on-call 24/7 throughout the week and they alternate on-call rotation for weekend and holidays, and they must respond at any time of day for a medical or mental health crisis.

“In 2023, the COPG experience[d] guardian turnover of the original guardians from 2020, which in conjunction with issues with hiring qualified candidates, reduced our ability to increase our caseload capacity as much as we projected,” the report said.

That required the other OPG staff, including the case management aide, director and assistant director, to serve wards in the 2nd Judicial District (Denver), the report added. 

The workforce shortage was known with their referral agencies since referrals also declined in 2023, the report indicated.

Board chair Stephanie Garcia, in a statement sent Wednesday night, said “We are strongly committed to the safety and well-being of our clients. Our office provides a critical public service advocating for individuals adjudicated by the court to lack the mental capacity to make decisions regarding their health and well-being and who also have no one else to speak on their behalf. Our staff ratios are within best practice standards, and we see our clients monthly,” she said. 

Garcia did not identify what those staff ratio standards are, but national standards indicate a ratio of 20 clients to every guardian. OPG currently lists two guardians on its website, and the 2023 annual report said they had 82 clients. However, the agency’s director, who is a nationally-certified guardian, is helping visit clients, according to the 2023 report. Its assistant director and a state case management aide, neither of whom are certified as guardians, also help with client visits.

Garcia also addressed the 27 deaths that have taken place under the office’s watch in its three-plus year history that started in October 2020.

“These individuals come to us suffering from by Alzheimer’s, dementia, mental illness or multiple medical comorbidities, and many are near the end of their life,” Garcia added. “We help them with palliative care so they can pass in a dignified and peaceful manner. Every client that has passed away has been in a hospital, nursing home or other care facility under the direct care and supervision of medical professionals. We act in the best interests of our clients at all times. Period.”