On Guard

6-o

A new Jewish Home and
Aging Services program provides
a safety net for older wards of the court.

what we've been doing," she
explained. "The amount of hours
you're on the phone talking to some-
one, a family member who is having a
nervous breakdown — 'Can some-
body take care of my mom?' They
need their hand held."
The two women, who are court-
appointed to act as legal guardians, are
bolstered by a corps of volunteers —
29 at last count — who visit the
wards on a monthly basis.
Margot Parr, executive director of
Jewish Home and Aging Services, said

JULIE EDGAR

News Editor

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cattered around Detroit are
150 elderly Jews, legally
incompetent and at the mercy
. of an overburdened court sys-
tern. A new, two-pronged program
organized by the Jewish Home and
Aging Services and the Commission
on Jewish Eldercare Services aims to
ease that burden and bring a bit of
Jewish "ambiance" to the lives of these
adults.

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7/10

1998

18

Social workers Karen Amber and Ruth Becker are doubling as legal guardians.

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Theproblems faced by wards of the
court run the gamut from the medical
to the legal to the human. Ruth
Becker, theprogram coordinator of
the Guardianship Program, recently
spent an entire night on the phone
with doctors, nurses and a psychiatrist
for a ward who needed emergency
surgery. Program Director Karen
Amber sat with the ward while the
hospital did a blood work. They also
had to provide permission to give
medication to a ward who is in a psy-
chiatric facility.
"I know the effort it takes to do

the real impetus for the program was
"the deplorable condition of guardian-
ship services. We wanted to do some-
thing for Jewish clients that is mean-
ingful. It's about enhancing the indi-
vidual's quality of life through sup-
port."
10
"Legally, the only requirement is
you file a report with the court once a
year telling the status of your charge,"
she continued. "There are attorneys
who have hundreds of clients whom
they never see. They simply handle
their affairs and collect $60 per month
from Medicaid to make sure the indi-

