Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Social Services Committee of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors convened on October 1, 2026, to receive annual updates from the Public Guardian, the Area Agency on Aging, the Department of Child Support Services, and the 12th status update on the State Auditor’s findings regarding the Department of Children and Family Services. No votes were taken; all items were informational.
So the reason we needed to break was because people uh online could not hear us. Well, if you would want us to do that, like to so that they get all of the information. I don't let me find out from TISA. We need to start from the very beginning. Okay. So uh once again, my name is Vincent Gordon. I'm the program manager for the Alameda County Public Guardian and Public Conservators Office, and this is Monica Bruno, one of the probate supervisors with our department, and we're gonna give you a short presentation today on what our office does and any updates to the program and to the organization and staffing, etc. So can move on to the first slide. So just an overview. Um, you know, our department is uh guided by the probate code, and um the conservatorship cases that we deal with are all governed by the probate code. Go on to the next slide. So the probate code uh dates back to 1931, and it's the statutory framework intended to protect the rights of people who are under a conservatorship. And a conservatorship is a form of a legal arrangement to manage the affairs of an adult, similar to a guardianship for a for a child, but for an adult, and it mandates periodic review of the conservatorship by the court investigator to make sure that we're operating in their best interest. Uh you skip to a different slideshow. All right. Next slide. And also the probate code, it dictates the conservative's basic need for physical health, food, clothing, and shelter are met, and they consider the least restrictive setting. So when you look for the public guardian, it's the least restrictive. They have all their alternatives before us, and it also provides for the proper management and protection of the conservative's real and personal property. Next slide. So the role of the court, the conservator is subject to control and oversight of the court. Everything that we do at our office, the court um you know is gonna scrutinize and um and we have to present you know various um documentation and accountings. Um the judge assigns a probate examiner and a court investigator, so the court has its own um staffing that uh will follow up and investigate the same information and an examiner to look at the the assets um that are being held by our conservator to make sure everything is you know um that we're in agreement. Okay, and the probate court determines the powers and duties of the conservator, and the probate court considers the reports of the probate court investigator and different parties, including the conservative and their council, and has the sole discretion to determine the best interests of the conservative. Next slide. So there's a couple different types of conservatorships. Um the first one mentioned is a limited conservatorship, those are generally for um people with developmental disabilities, and there's a specific set of powers that are um petitioned for. Uh, our office does not do a lot of those, but we do have a couple and um are occasionally asked to uh investigate those cases. Um, then there's a general conservatorships, and then there's two basic categories there's conservatorship of person, and then there's a conservatorship of a state. Um, under conservatorship of person, there are additional uh powers that we would have to petition for, including medical decision making authority, um, psychotropic medication authority and placement in what's called a secure perimeter. Aside from that, our office also does LPS conservatorships, which stands for the Lanterman Petra Short Act. These are conservatorships for people with severe mental health uh disabilities. Um, the rules for uh you know um detain and then you know, uh providing clinical treatment to those folks in order to restore them to competency is governed by the Lannerman Petra Short Act, which sets up a series of holds where at each point they determine whether the person is what's called gravely disabled, meaning unable to provide for their own food, clothing, or shelter, or a threat to themselves or others. Okay, next slide. We're gonna okay. Appointment procedure. So the public guardian, also known as the PG. We petition for conservatorship of person and or a state if there's any imminent threat to the person's health or safety or to the person's estate, and there's no one else who is qualified and willing to act. And also the probate court may sometimes appoint the PG to investigate as well.