People in your community need a guardian!

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Help people in your community by volunteering as a guardian!

The Department of Human Services is currently in need of volunteers to serve as guardians for wards of the state. Wards of the state are typically individuals with mental illness, disabilities, or dementia. Often, family members of the ward are not able to serve as guardian, and we look to caring community members for help.

One of the most difficult decisions a family has to make involves how to deal with elderly family members or family members who have mental illness or intellectual disabilities. Often these people can no longer make decisions for themselves. Most of us know of someone who has faced this situation. Usually, with the help of the family, arrangements can be made. However, there are times when tough circumstances make this process more challenging. Acting as a guardian can take as much or as little time as one is willing to give and can be very rewarding. Guardians are not financially responsible for their ward, nor do they take them into their homes. What they do is to work with professionals from DHS and other service agencies to make placement and treatment decisions for the ward. Thus, a guardian would be asked to sign admission requests for hospitals, applications for state assistance or Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security benefits, and to monitor the ward's treatment and condition and to make a brief yearly report to the court. If additional court involvement is necessary, the county attorney's office will file the necessary paperwork. Guardians make a big difference for some of our community's most needy populations.

For more information please contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Mackenzie Mahoney, at 515-725-2743 or mbartus@dhs.state.ia.us.