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Guardianship Reform National Studies

2018 NCD Report on Guardianship and Alternatives
The National Council on Disability published a comprehensive report, Beyond Guardianship: Toward Alternatives That Promote Greater Self-Determination, presenting a thorough review of guardianship against the backdrop of the civil rights advances of individuals with disabilities. 

2017 ABA Report on Restoration of Rights
In 2017, with support from The Greenwall Foundation and the Borchard Foundation Center on Law and Aging, the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Law and Aging, with Virginia Tech Center for Gerontology, published a four-state study of court termination of guardianship orders and restoration of rights, and convened a Roundtable that made recommendation for changes in law and practice.

2014 ACUS Study on Guardianship and SSA Representative Payment
The Administrative Conference of the United States conducted a survey of state courts on guardianship oversight and communication with the Social Security Representative Payee System, and reported the results in SSA Representative Payee: Survey of State Guardianship Laws and Court Practices.

2013 AARP Report on Guardian Residential Decisions
The AARP Public Policy Institute, with the ABA Commission on Law and Aging, produced a report based on a survey on guardians about residential decision-making, entitled Choosing Home for Someone Else: Guardian Decisions on Long-Term Services and Supports.

2010 Adult Guardianship Court Data and Issues Results from an Online Survey
In October and November 2009, the National Center for State Courts’ Center for Elders and the Courts (CEC) carried out an online survey on behalf of the Conference of Chief Justices/Conference of State Court Administrators (CCJ/COSC) Joint Task Force on Elders and the Courts. The survey focused on the availability and accuracy of adult guardianship data, sufficiency and training of guardians at the local level, and practices that hold promise in recruiting, retaining, and training guardians. 

2010 Report on Public Guardianship
The University of Kentucky, the ABA Commission on Law and Aging and Prof. Winsor Schmidt engaged in a National Study of Public Guardianship, and published a two-part report. 
In phase one, the 2005 report, Wards of the State: A National Study of Public Guardianship, included the results of a national survey of public guardianship programs, as well as selected site visits and interviews. 
In phase two, the 2008 report, Public Guardianship After 25 Years: In the Best Interest of Incapacitated People? included additional site visits and interviews, as well as recommendations and a model statute.  
These reports formed the basis of a book by Teaster, Schmidt, Wood, Lawrence & Mendiondo, Public Guardianship: In the Best Interests of Incapacitated People? (2010), published by Praeger.

2007 AARP Study on Promising Practices for Guardianship Monitoring
In 2007, the AARP Public Policy Institute and the ABA Commission on Law and Aging produced Guarding the Guardians: Promising Practices for Court Monitoring, including practices drawn from site visits and telephone interviews with selected courts, and a symposium of experts.

2006 AARP Study on Guardianship Monitoring
In 2006, the AARP Public Policy Institute and the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging published Guardianship Monitoring: A National Survey of Court Practices, based on survey responses (through listserves, not a nationally representative sample) from close to 400 judges, court managers, guardians, elder law attorneys and legal representatives of people with disabilities.

1994 TCSG National Study
In 1994, The Center for Social Gerontology produced a National Study of Guardianship Systems: Findings and Recommendations by Lisi, Burns & Lussenden, which examined the guardianship process intensively in ten states, gathering data from over 700 files.

1991 ABA Study on Guardianship Monitoring
In 1991, the American Bar Association Commission on the Mentally Disabled and Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly conducted the first national study of guardianship monitoring, as reported in Hurme, Steps to Enhance Guardianship Monitoring.

1981 Study on Public Guardianship
In 1981, Schmidt, Miller, Bell & New published a national study on Public Guardianship and the Elderly (Ballinger Pub.).  The study reviewed existing and proposed public guardianship laws in all states and focused intensively on six state programs.