We, the members of the board of directors of the Texas Guardianship Association, support the passage of SB6 as passed by the Senate on March 3, 2005, because it contains the following elements endorsed at the Guardianship Summit sponsored by TGA on December 17, 2004:

• Statewide system to insure that quality guardianship and less restrictive alternative services are available to incapacitated people throughout the State;

• Local control and management for the direct provision of guardianship and alternative services;

• Adequate State funding to match or supplement County funding for the development and expansion of local guardianship and money management programs;

• Designation of DADS as guardian of last resort for those counties that choose to use it and an equitable arrangement for counties to supplement the cost of such use;

• A separation of duties between the management of guardianship funding and policy and the delivery of direct client guardianship services;

• Limited liability for local guardianship programs;

• Promotion of the use of court initiated guardianship in rural counties by allowing non-statutory probate judges to appoint APS to investigate letters to the courts suggesting a person may be incapacitated;

• Training of APS investigators to recognize incapacity and refer those cases directly to the probate courts for further investigation into the need for guardianship or less restrictive alternative services; and

• A state specific certification process for private professional guardians and guardians acting within guardianship programs.

* CLIFFORD A. WALKER, DADS employee abstaining