Shannon Litz/Nevada Appeal Debbie Marzoline, the new public guardian for Carson City, says she is going to try to streamline as much as she can to take care of the 41 active cases.
Sprinkled throughout every community are elderly people unable to care for themselves, who have no one else looking out for their welfare. These are the people who fall under the responsibility of the public guardian.
In Carson City, 41 people are in that category.
Clerk/Recorder Alan Glover, whose office oversees the public guardian, said only those who fit exacting criteria become wards of the city.
"We are not the solution to everyone's problem in the city," Glover said. "Families need to take care of their family members. They may not be their loved ones, but they are their relatives."
To qualify, a person must be 60 years old without a legal guardian in Nevada. A medical doctor must determine the person can't take care of their basic needs, such as in cases of dementia.
"Our cases are getting more complicated. We're seeing a lot more mental illness. All that drug use in the '60s is coming back on us," Glover said, laughing.
Although Glover believes Carson City has a higher incidence of wards due to its high percentage of seniors - about 33 percent - the rural counties tend to get their share, as well.
"You'll get your old guy who doesn't want to be around people who lives out in Silver Springs, and his family won't talk to him," Glover said.
New public guardian
Debbie Marzoline was appointed the new public guardian Thursday by the Carson City Board of Supervisors. She replaces Susan Swensen, who retired.
Glover told the board that after reviewing 43 applications and interviewing nine people, he felt Marzoline would do the best job.
Friday, Marzoline said she was busy moving into her office and getting organized for her new position.
"I'm going to try to streamline as much as I can to take care of our 41 active cases," she said. "And we're hiring a part-time person as a case manager, which will help."
Every person the city looks after has different circumstances. Those who have financial resources might be placed in a convalescent center while the city looks after their financial affairs. If they are in their own homes, a lot more time is required to manage that home, pay the bills, etc.
"We generally find housing for them. Most can go to group homes, but some we ship out of state for geriatric psychiatric housing,"
Glover said.
"These might be your sex offenders. Just because they're old doesn't make them nice. Their children don't want anything to do with the guy because he molested them at some point. ... These types aren't mentally competent, so you can't prosecute them," he said of those who were sent away to psychiatric facilities.
Swensen, the retired public guardian, said she was careful not to let families take advantage of the city.
"I've been very tenacious about not accepting cases where families are available," she said. "We were also not accepting (some) mentally ill. If they decide not to take their meds, that doesn't mean they're not capable. They need to have incompetency such as dementia, which a doctor decides."
Glover recalls a case with a man they called Pop at the Evergreen at Mountain View center. He was a Russian who spoke a distinct dialect that no one could understand.
"We thought he was a manic-depressive because he never talked," Glover said, "but when someone came to work there who spoke his dialect, he came to life."
Making the move
One of the most difficult tasks for the public guardian's office is moving someone out of their apartment or home when they've been living on their own.
"Moving them out can be difficult. Have they paid their bills, their taxes? And what do you do with their stuff?" he said.
"If it's filthy, that's one of the signs when we know they can't take care of themselves. They don't remember to empty the cat litter box, or for medical reasons, they don't make it to the toilet. It can get really bad," he said.
In most cases, Glover's office tries to locate family members and help them through the process of getting proper care for the elderly person.
Most wards of the city are in convalescent homes, and getting them there wasn't necessarily easy.
"They don't want to go, especially if they have a pet. Maybe that's all they have in life is their cat, and their son hasn't been to see them for 20 years," he said. "It can be heartbreaking."
Glover said referrals come to his office a number of ways.
• The state's Division of Aging Services conducts investigations to determine a person's status, then refers them to the city.
• The sheriff's office can run across people in need through their work.
• The senior center makes some referrals.
• Attorneys with clients who are elderly sometimes call. "Maybe the husband was the caregiver for a wife who has Alzheimer's, but he dies," Glover said.
• Banks occasionally call. "Sometimes they'll call us because they have a very wealthy customer whose dear friend is regularly making $10,000 withdrawals," he said.
The costs
The board of supervisors set a fee of $180 an hour for guardian services, although the city isn't able to collect on most of that.
"We use a minimum standard of two hours per month for each person, and when they die, whatever they have left goes to the city," Glover said of the $360 per month charges.
Wards generally receive a small sum each month from their Social Security which they can use for personal services such as having their nails or hair done, but sometimes those funds accumulate.
"It can't get any higher than $2,000 or it bumps them off of Medicaid, so we'll draw that down from time to time. We might buy them a new TV or bed or chair. They come first, and if any money is left over, it goes to the city," he said.
Glover said his office was overwhelmed a few years ago, and was unable to meet the legal requirement of visiting each ward once a month, but things are starting to settle down.
"In the past, we were doing phone calls only - there was just no time with trying to keep up with paperwork like Medicaid, Medicare, taxes and Social Security - but we're changing that. Some people consume a tremendous amount of time," he said, "but we're planning to be a lot more hands-on."
When feelings are involved
For the public guardian's office, it isn't all business, though.
"We get attached to many of them and they might become like a grandmother to us, so it's hard when they die," Glover said.
Glenna Westphal was one of those. She was 85 when she died last Thanksgiving and had been a ward of the city for a number of years.
"She was once a very wealthy woman but her caregiver took her for $2.5 million. That's a case of elder abuse, and it was a big case here," he said.
"Some people thought she was difficult because she was demanding, but I got along well with her. I'd just say, 'If you're not going to be nice to me, I'm going to have to leave,' and she'd laugh," Glover said.
"You get very attached to some of them, and it's hard when they go," he said.
Other times, it can be difficult when wards don't have enough money for some of the basics.
"It's sad because they don't have enough money to get their teeth fixed or to buy a hearing aid. We can get them glasses every couple of years, but they don't have much," he said.
There are no organizations who regularly serve this segment of the community, he said, although one year a man gave Glover's office $1,000 to buy them Christmas gifts. It lasted for a couple of years.