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Guardianship Agency Abuses

In the early days of Boston there were two prominent families, the Cabots and the Lodges. They were aloof and unreachable. Common folk of that day had a saying, "The Lodges speak only to the Cabots and the Cabots speak only to God."

In October of 2003 the guardianship of my adult disabled son was awarded to an in-state guardianship agency. For eight long months we have been trying to deal with this business concern, which seems to feel they are accountable only to God himself... backed up legally by earthly laws. They freely admit that the majority of people who go into guardianship do so because they are alone, people who have no one to care or advocate for them. They are people generally too ill to ask questions about their own finances or medical care. With no one to question their practices, guardians can do much as they please. The court only requires one report submitted after the first three months and thereafter only once a year. And there is no one through the court to audit that report for errors.

Our family has requested information, reimbursement for out of pocket monies, etc., over and over but met with either misinformation or stony silence. We will be making our fifth trip to court in the next few weeks. It has been costly, time consuming, stressful and exhausting. Worse than that, we find there is no group or agency that deals with complaints about guardianship services other than the court itself. It has been like pounding on doors that do not open.

Our advice to anyone thinking about using a guardianship agency is to investigate the many alternatives. We would like to hear from anyone who has suffered the same indignities.

Carolyn Jones

Editor's note: If any reader is interested in researching and writing an article about guardianship abuses, or if you have had a similar experience and are interested in getting in contact with Carolyn Jones, please contact us at WAfreepress@gmail.com.

Who'll Be Tortured Next?

I just had a very disturbing thought: If the Bushites are able to spin the torture at Abu Ghraib prison, throw a few peasants to the wolves and break the Geneva Convention, and they appear to be succeeding, then the Bushites are one step closer to torturing their enemies at home. You know, those whining environmentalists, lily-livered liberals, socialist scum and traitorous peaceniks. Oops, see anybody you know on that short list that might be considered a Bushite enemy?

It sort of reminds me of the quote from Niemoller, a Nazi era minister, who said "First they came for the Communists but I was not a Communist - so I said nothing. Then they came for the Social Democrats, but I was not a Social Democrat - so I did nothing. Then came the trade unionists, but I was not a trade unionist. And then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew - so I did little. Then when they came for me, there was no one left who could stand up for me."

I see a similarity between what happened in Nazi Germany and what is happening right here on main street USA. Many Americans are complacent in the face of lost civil rights, lies about WMD to justify invading Iraq and now torture at Abu Ghraib prison. Outrage piled upon outrage and America slumbers on. Will anything awaken us in time? Will there be anyone left to stand up for me and you?

Howard Pellet