Public Guardian Multi-Disciplinary Team

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2010

The goal of the Public Guardian (PG) Conservator’s office is to ensure the safety, both financially and physically, of incompetent and mentally disabled persons who meet the criteria for probate conservatorship, as required by law, when there are no viable alternatives to public conservatorship. San Bernadino County Department of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS) created a specialized PG Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) to respond to all probate conservator intake referrals in the county. The purpose of this unique team approach is to ensure every effort is made to ascertain that the probate conservatorship action is appropriate, and that no alternative course of action can ensure the safety of the individual. Probate conservatorship referrals come from Adult Protective Services (APS), hospitals and other sources. The PG MDT participants include professionals from a wide range of agencies, which have responsibility for and expertise with elders showing diminished capacity and dependent adults. The MDT process allows these knowledgeable partners to strategize service availability to prevent or delay conservatorship, eliminate duplication of services and monitor the safety of the at-risk individual.