Standards for guardianships, conservatorships, and alternative arrangements

(a) Standards for establishing, reviewing, modifying, and discontinuing guardianships, conservatorships, or other protective arrangements The Secretary, through the Administrator of the Administration for Community Living, with significant input from the Council, shall develop standards for establishing, reviewing, modifying, and discontinuing any protective arrangement for a covered individual, including guardianships and conservatorships, including standards for each of the following: (1) Establishing protective arrangements. (2) Establishing frequencies, of not more than 1 year, for regular review of protective arrangements by the court of jurisdiction. (3) Guaranteed procedures for modification or discontinuation of protective arrangements. (4) Guaranteed representation by an independent, qualified, and compensated lawyer described in section 2(a)(5)(C) for the covered individual being considered for a protective arrangement or in a protective arrangement. (5) Access to due process while the individual is being considered for a protective arrangement and while in a protective arrangement. (6) Options for full restoration of rights for a covered individual in a protective arrangement. (7) Ordering limited protective arrangements when less restrictive arrangements, such as supported decisionmaking arrangements, are not appropriate. (8) (A) Collecting detailed data at the national and State levels on the use of guardianships and other protective arrangements, supported decisionmaking arrangements, and other alternative arrangements. (B) Reporting that data, taken as a whole and disaggregated by gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, income level, living situation, age, disability type, and reason for guardianship or other protective arrangement. (b) Standards for establishing supported decisionmaking and other alternative arrangements The Secretary, through the Administrator of the Administration for Community Living, with significant input from the Council, shall develop system standards and other standards for establishing supported decisionmaking arrangements and other alternative arrangements as the default decision support options for covered individuals to avert the use of guardianship or a more restrictive protective arrangement, including— (1) system standards that promote supported decisionmaking arrangements and other alternative arrangements for decisionmaking arrangements, including decisionmaking arrangements within local educational agencies, health care systems, disability and aging services systems, financial institutions, and court systems; (2) standards for the areas (such as education, finance, and health) in which a covered individual requires decisionmaking supports; (3) standards for how a covered individual using a supported decisionmaking arrangement will select the persons to serve on the supported decisionmaking team; (4) standards for additional supports, such as assistive technology devices, required to ensure maximum participation by covered individuals in their decisionmaking; and (5) standards for interrupting the processes that lead to guardianship or conservatorship through retraining key decisionmakers, such as court personnel and administrators, to recognize overbroad petitions for guardianships or conservatorships. (c) Standards for transitioning from guardianships to alternative arrangements The Secretary, with significant input from the Council and a stakeholder group process, shall— (1) establish standards, for transitioning covered individuals from guardianship or conservatorship arrangements into supported decisionmaking arrangements or other alternative arrangements, that restore the rights of individuals in appropriate circumstances; and (2) establish standards that— (A) require a periodic review of guardianships and conservatorships, to transition covered individuals in either type of arrangement to a supported decisionmaking arrangement or another alternative arrangement; (B) provide for such a review at least once a year for such covered individuals; and (C) require that a review of a guardianship or conservatorship occurs if such a covered individual requests that review. (d) Minimum standards for establishment and review of protective arrangements The Secretary, with significant input from the Council, shall— (1) establish standards for establishing guardianships or other protective arrangements, including in the case of a plenary guardianship, standards for health, medical, and financial well-being reviews by the corresponding members serving on a guardianship review panel before the guardianship is established and during reviews described in paragraph (4); (2) create standards for individuals eligible to serve on such a review panel, which shall include lawyers, and advocates, with experience protecting the civil rights described in subsection (a), other professionals with experience in protective arrangements (such as doctors, psychologists, and certified financial planners), and covered individuals; (3) establish standards requiring background checks of individuals seeking to serve on guardianship review panels; and (4) establish standards for reviews of protective arrangements described in section 2(a)(5)(F). (e) Availability and accessibility The Secretary shall make the standards described in this section, and information on the standards, available and accessible to covered individuals, family members and guardians of covered individuals, judges and court personnel, school personnel, minority language communities, and additional appropriate entities and individuals. (f) Relation to other law A State that seeks funding under— (1) title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 720 et seq.) shall include, in the State plan submitted under section 101 of that Act (29 U.S.C. 721) or the application submitted under section 121 of that Act (29 U.S.C. 741), as the case may be, an assurance that the State is implementing and enforcing the standards described in this section and issued by the Secretary, other than subsection (c); and (2) subtitle B or C of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15021 et seq., 15041 et seq.) shall include, in the State plan submitted under section 124 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 15024) or the materials demonstrating eligibility under section 143 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 15043), as the case may be, the assurance described in paragraph (1).