Assembly Bill 1663, a bill that would revise procedures of the conservatorship process, passed unanimously in the Assembly Judiciary Committee on March 15.
AB 1663, introduced by Assemblymember Brian Maienschein (D-San Diego) on Jan. 19, would require the Judicial Council to establish a conservatorship-alternatives program within each superior court as a means to avoid conservatorships. The program would identify less restrictive alternatives to conservatorships, including supported decision making.
Along with the conservatorship-alternatives program, the Judicial Council would also be required to establish and staff a Supported Decisionmaking Technical Assistance Program, which would provide support, education and technical assistance to adults with disabilities.
The bill would allow $10,000,000 to be allocated from the general fund for implementing the two programs.
Courts would be required to also give conservatees a personalized list of their rights they retain while under a conservatorship and other options for help.
“There are really thousands of families that are trapped in a system that doesn’t provide the best alternative,” Maienschein said in a video he tweeted. “Through supported decisionmaking and through the reforms we’re making to probate conservatorships through this bill, there’s good things ahead.”
AB 1663 would also revise procedures for termination of a limited conservatorship by requiring the court to terminate an uncontested petition for termination and without a hearing.
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