Guardianship Data Reform
Nobody actually knows how many U.S. adults are under guardianship — estimates hover around 1.3 million, but they’re based on a handful of states and are years stale. That data vacuum is worst for marginalized older adults, whose risk factors go untracked entirely.
Why the data doesn’t exist
Guardianship cases can run for decades, courts aren’t unified or standardized, tech is outdated, and parties often distrust disclosing sensitive info. So nobody tracks who’s actually under guardianship — age, race, disability, sexual orientation — or why. Meanwhile older adults of color and LGBTQ+ elders face compounding risk factors (poverty, dementia, isolation, institutionalization) that likely drive guardianship rates up, but there’s no hard data connecting the dots, just anecdote.
What reform would take
Decades of guardianship summits and GAO reports have called for better data; a 2023 federal bill (Guardianship Bill of Rights Act) stalled anyway. The National Open Court Data Standards exist but are voluntary, incomplete (no sexual orientation field), and don’t centralize data anywhere. The brief calls for congressional funding tied to mandatory data standards, plus a national repository.
edited and authored by Dave with close collaboration by Claude