>Intense Personal Reactions

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The Herald received intensively personal reactions to the story about how the guardian system works. They used the case of William Nagle.

Attorney Bob McKinley represents the corporate guardian for William Nagle, Chippewa Family Services, Inc. of Chippewa Falls. He thought it was unfair mentioning his client in the same story that also mentioned the Minnesota case. “There are abuses in the system. The problem in this case is not the guardian.”

A woman who identified herself as Chuck’s sister: “My problem is the way you presented the information about Chuck being barred from any communications with CFS makes it appear as though all of the Nagle family behave childishly. That is soooooooo far from the truth. Chuck is the only one behaving in an irrational and childish manner.”

A man identifying himself as Chuck’s brother: “Chuck Nagle’s statement that ‘family members couldn’t agree what should happen next’ could have been better stated that he didn’t agree with other family members’ agreed-upon plan.”

But the article was always intended to be more than what he and the Nagle family have encountered dealing with the courts and each other.

Wisconsin’s guardian system is a secret system designed to protect the vulnerable. But it is secrecy that carries a price.

There are good and bad guardians. But families of people being protected by the secret system deserve more than a once-a-year disclosure of how their loved ones’ finances are being spent.

Guardians should be required to provide an accounting to the courts of how the money is being spent at least twice a year, if not quarterly.

A better accounting by guardians of the initial assessment of the vulnerable person’s assets is also necessary, so that potential financial problems would become apparent early on in the process.

Full Article and Source:
Column: Personal reactions follow guardian story

See also:
Pitfalls of The Guardian System

More information:

The court’s answer to a family feud is a forced guardianship/conservatorship!
Stop Guardian Abuse – An Open Door

Pitfalls of The Guardian System

Chuck Nagle says his father will want to write a check to donate to his church. But he won’t be allowed to write that check. “He has zero authority now to do anything. He can’t even subscribe to the newspaper.”

That’s because a non-profit corporate guardian has been appointed to represent William Nagle, whom Chuck said has early stages of Alzheimer’s. A guardian was appointed because of his medical condition.

The guardian system in Wisconsin is one where little information reaches the public, and sometimes even family members. “In Wisconsin, guardianship cases are considered to be closed. Even family cannot get information.” It’s a system that he contends is broken.

Otis Woods is administrator for the Division of Quality Assurance of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, the agency that oversees the regulation of guardians. The state uses 13 criteria for those guardians, Woods said. If they violate any one of those 13, he said they can be removed as a guardian. But complaints are relatively rare. Woods: “We don’t receive very many. Maybe five a year.”

A second category, of for-profit guardians, are unregulated by the state. Woods said the state is in the early stages of reviewing that and possibly rewriting rules to include regulation.

Chuck Nagle says relatives can be shut out of receiving updated financial information on a regular basis. That decision is up to a corporate guardian and can be upheld by a judge. “The only information the guardians have to report is to the court, once a year.”

Rep. Scott Suder who represents the state’s 69th Assembly District: “Once a year, for any type of reporting, is clearly not enough.” He said perhaps the Legislative Audit Bureau could audit the state’s guardian program to see if changes need to be made.

State Rep. Kirsten Dexter who represents the 68th District where William Nagle lives, is also considering forcing guardians to report financial information more frequently.

About the case:
After William Nagle’s wife died in May 2007, family members couldn’t agree what should happen next. Chuck Nagle asked in June 2008 for a limited, temporary guardian be appointed for his father, which was done in October. The next month a permanent guardian from Chippewa Family Services, Inc. in Chippewa Falls was appointed.

Chuck Nagle now is restricted in his posing of questions of the guardian, according a March 6 letter from Chippewa Falls attorney Robert W. McKinley, who represents Chippewa Family Services and the guardian. “You are not to contact my client again absent a bona fide emergency concerning your father. If my client hears from you for any other reason, all contacts will be terminated,” the letter states.

Nagle said he is appealing decisions in his father’s case to the Wisconsin Third District Court of Appeals in Wausau.

And he’s warning others of the potential pitfalls of Wisconsin’s guardian system.

Full Article and Source:
Guardian system leaves questions

Robert McKinley is a certified guardian with The Center For Guardianship Certification, allied foundation of the National Guardianship Association (NGA)

>Pitfalls of The Guardian System

>

Chuck Nagle says his father will want to write a check to donate to his church. But he won’t be allowed to write that check. “He has zero authority now to do anything. He can’t even subscribe to the newspaper.”

That’s because a non-profit corporate guardian has been appointed to represent William Nagle, whom Chuck said has early stages of Alzheimer’s. A guardian was appointed because of his medical condition.

The guardian system in Wisconsin is one where little information reaches the public, and sometimes even family members. “In Wisconsin, guardianship cases are considered to be closed. Even family cannot get information.” It’s a system that he contends is broken.

Otis Woods is administrator for the Division of Quality Assurance of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, the agency that oversees the regulation of guardians. The state uses 13 criteria for those guardians, Woods said. If they violate any one of those 13, he said they can be removed as a guardian. But complaints are relatively rare. Woods: “We don’t receive very many. Maybe five a year.”

A second category, of for-profit guardians, are unregulated by the state. Woods said the state is in the early stages of reviewing that and possibly rewriting rules to include regulation.

Chuck Nagle says relatives can be shut out of receiving updated financial information on a regular basis. That decision is up to a corporate guardian and can be upheld by a judge. “The only information the guardians have to report is to the court, once a year.”

Rep. Scott Suder who represents the state’s 69th Assembly District: “Once a year, for any type of reporting, is clearly not enough.” He said perhaps the Legislative Audit Bureau could audit the state’s guardian program to see if changes need to be made.

State Rep. Kirsten Dexter who represents the 68th District where William Nagle lives, is also considering forcing guardians to report financial information more frequently.

About the case:
After William Nagle’s wife died in May 2007, family members couldn’t agree what should happen next. Chuck Nagle asked in June 2008 for a limited, temporary guardian be appointed for his father, which was done in October. The next month a permanent guardian from Chippewa Family Services, Inc. in Chippewa Falls was appointed.

Chuck Nagle now is restricted in his posing of questions of the guardian, according a March 6 letter from Chippewa Falls attorney Robert W. McKinley, who represents Chippewa Family Services and the guardian. “You are not to contact my client again absent a bona fide emergency concerning your father. If my client hears from you for any other reason, all contacts will be terminated,” the letter states.

Nagle said he is appealing decisions in his father’s case to the Wisconsin Third District Court of Appeals in Wausau.

And he’s warning others of the potential pitfalls of Wisconsin’s guardian system.

Full Article and Source:
Guardian system leaves questions

Robert McKinley is a certified guardian with The Center For Guardianship Certification, allied foundation of the National Guardianship Association (NGA)

Overseers Are Wrong

After eight months, the state of Wisconsin has finally released its report on Dane County’s actions in a child protection case that ended in six-year-old Deshaunsay Sykes-Crowder being brutally murdered. Not surprisingly, the state found something to criticize in Dane County’s handling of the case.

But not as much as it should have. While the state faulted Dane County for a few infractions, it ultimately concluded (in a line that was not part of earlier drafts): “It is impossible to predict what, if anything, could have resulted in a less tragic outcome.”

The truth is there were plenty of big, red warning flags. Actions could and should have been taken to avoid the clear possibility that Deshaunsay Sykes would be harmed.

Full Article and Source:
A tear for Deshaunsay

See also:
Unfit Guardian?

Second Guessing

>Overseers Are Wrong

>

After eight months, the state of Wisconsin has finally released its report on Dane County’s actions in a child protection case that ended in six-year-old Deshaunsay Sykes-Crowder being brutally murdered. Not surprisingly, the state found something to criticize in Dane County’s handling of the case.

But not as much as it should have. While the state faulted Dane County for a few infractions, it ultimately concluded (in a line that was not part of earlier drafts): “It is impossible to predict what, if anything, could have resulted in a less tragic outcome.”

The truth is there were plenty of big, red warning flags. Actions could and should have been taken to avoid the clear possibility that Deshaunsay Sykes would be harmed.

Full Article and Source:
A tear for Deshaunsay

See also:
Unfit Guardian?

Second Guessing

Judge Blocks Release

Former Burnett County resident Adam Hess, 23, was scheduled to be released from the Mendota Mental Health Institute this week.

However, on Wednesday, April 1, Judge James Babbitt blocked this release and ordered Burnett County’s corporate counsel to petition for Chapter 55, protective placement and guardianship for Hess.

Hess was placed in Mendota Mental Health Institute after Judge Gableman accepted Hess’s plea of not guilty for reasons of insanity after he allegedly exposed himself to a girl in the public bathroom at Crooked Lake Park in 2002.

Source:
Judge blocks release of Hess

>Judge Blocks Release

>

Former Burnett County resident Adam Hess, 23, was scheduled to be released from the Mendota Mental Health Institute this week.

However, on Wednesday, April 1, Judge James Babbitt blocked this release and ordered Burnett County’s corporate counsel to petition for Chapter 55, protective placement and guardianship for Hess.

Hess was placed in Mendota Mental Health Institute after Judge Gableman accepted Hess’s plea of not guilty for reasons of insanity after he allegedly exposed himself to a girl in the public bathroom at Crooked Lake Park in 2002.

Source:
Judge blocks release of Hess

Former Lawyer Denied License

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has rejected a request by David V. Jennings III of Cedarburg to reinstate his law license, saying his moral character is lacking.

Jennings says the decision is devastating. The furniture store manager says he wanted to get back into law to “offset some of the harm that I caused.”

Jennings lost his license in 1993, the year he pleaded guilty to embezzling $550,000 from a company he represented in bankruptcy proceedings and from his mother’s living trust.

Full Article and Source:
Former Wis. lawyer who embezzled denied license

>Former Lawyer Denied License

>

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has rejected a request by David V. Jennings III of Cedarburg to reinstate his law license, saying his moral character is lacking.

Jennings says the decision is devastating. The furniture store manager says he wanted to get back into law to “offset some of the harm that I caused.”

Jennings lost his license in 1993, the year he pleaded guilty to embezzling $550,000 from a company he represented in bankruptcy proceedings and from his mother’s living trust.

Full Article and Source:
Former Wis. lawyer who embezzled denied license

Attorney Charged with Theft

A Chippewa Falls woman is accused of withdrawing thousands of dollars from one of her client’s bank accounts.

Lynda Larson is charged with three counts of theft in a business setting over $10,000.

According to the criminal complaint, Larson was an attorney for Ingvald Melgaard who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and died in March of 2006.

The complaint says Larson had a joint bank account with Melgaard and withdrew more than $200,000 of his money without his consent including about $100,000 she used to purchase a business for herself.

Larson will make her initial appearance in court on April 28.

Full Article and Source:
Attorney Charged With Taking Money From Her Client

More information:
Chippewa Falls woman charged with theft of nearly $375,000