Webinar Event: Article 81 Guardianships in New York: A Statewide Perspective

Jun 10, 2021 |
By admin

Webinar Event

Article 81 Guardianships in New York: A Statewide Perspective

Webinar Recording

When: Thursday, June 10th, from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. 

Article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law establishes a system of guardianship for New Yorkers with limited capacity who need decision-making support.  Though the legal framework is statewide, the practical application and impact of guardianship in local jurisdictions is varied as a result of the geographically and demographically diverse areas of the state and the availability of social and legal services, professional guardians and other Part 36 appointees, and judicial resources in those regions.  An understanding of the common issues faced by practitioners across New York State, coupled with an analysis of the unique local conditions faced by individual jurisdictions is critical to assessing the needs of the New York guardianship system and formulating a statewide reform agenda.

Project Guardianship and LegalHealth (a division of the New York Legal Assistance Group) have founded the Coalition to Assist Limited Capacity New Yorkers, which seeks to educate and inform stakeholders and laypersons about issues affecting the population guardianship serves, and gather information about ways the guardianship system could be improved. This event is the second the Coalition is sponsoring in a four-part webinar series in 2021. At this webinar, panelists will share their perspectives on the state of guardianship in their area of practice and discuss issues that impact the guardianship system and ways to improve the quality and availability of guardianship services in regions outside of New York City.

Confirmed panel participants include:

  • Elizabeth S. Fortino, Acting Director, Mental Hygiene Legal Service, 4th Judicial Department (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Utica) 
  • Hon. David H. Guy, Surrogate Court Judge, 6th Judicial District (Binghamton/Broome County) 
  • Jesslyn Holbrook, Staff Attorney, Center for Elder Law and Justice (Buffalo, 9 Western NY counties)
  • Jennifer Jones, Commissioner, Lewis County Department of Social Services (Lowville/Lewis County)
  • Morgan Thurston, Assistant Welfare Attorney, Onondaga County Department of Law (Syracuse/Onandaga County)

The discussion will be one hour followed by 30 minutes Q&A, and will take place on Thursday, June 10th, from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.