CARSON CITY, Nev. – After a rash of high-profile cases, a brand new hotline has just been established for Nevadans to report abuse or neglect by court-appointed guardians. The hotline is run by the Guardianship Compliance Office created by the state in January.

Jim Berchtold is directing attorney for the Guardianship Advocacy Program at the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, a group with seven attorneys who represent victims in court at no cost.

He says until now, it's been too easy for predators to gain guardianship over unsuspecting people who couldn't take care of themselves or might suffer from dementia.

"There were a number of issues that were coming to light - people who were being improperly placed under guardianship, people who were under guardianship and having their assets stolen, essentially, by private guardians, and just a general lack of oversight," Berchtold says.

The focus on guardianship abuse came in response to several highly-publicized cases, most notably that of April Parks, who ran a guardianship company and was indicted alongside several others, including a Las Vegas police officer, for fraudulently assuming guardianship over an elderly couple and stealing $700,000.

The hotline number is 833-421-7711.

People can find themselves stripped of their rights under the control of a court-appointed guardian who is a stranger to them, if they become incapacitated without a family member or friend having legal power of attorney, or if no one requests guardianship promptly. According to Berchtold, that can be avoided with proper planning.

"You can create powers of attorney not only for your healthcare, medical decisions but also for your finances," he explains. "You can create healthcare directives, trusts, so that your finances are protected and that your future care is provided for."

A 2010 federal report on guardianship abuse blamed the problem on courts that failed to properly screen potential guardians or ascertain the wishes of the person to be placed under supervision, or failed to locate family members.


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FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A new report finds county jails made more than $9 million from payments made for phone calls by incarcerated people, the year before and during the pandemic.

The report by Mike Harmon, the state's auditor of public accounts, examined more than 70 county jails' communication services and equipment contracts that were active between July 2019 and November 2020.

Marcus Jackson, smart justice organizer and coordinator at ACLU Kentucky, said inmates' families foot the bill for marked-up prices on a number of services, including food purchased from commissary vendors. He added it is commonplace for jails to receive financial perks from vendors.

"No one that's incarcerated has the money to pay these high phone bills," Jackson asserted. "It's their family members that are already in bad situations and barely making it paycheck to paycheck that are also paying taxes, that's paying these high bills."

Jackson noted in addition to financial burdens, high costs for phone calls cause emotional distress and makes it harder for inmates and their families to maintain social ties, all of which research shows can boost successful re-entry into society.

Some municipalities, such as New York City, have introduced legislation to provide communication services in jails and prisons at no cost.

Jackson noted in Kentucky, inmates can be charged upwards of $10 for a 15-minute phone call.

"Let's say if a person calls home every day, once a day. Three hundred dollars per month added to a struggling family," Jackson explained.

The report also found some contracts with telecommunications companies were based on verbal agreements. Auditors say unwritten contracts raise serious policy issues and can obscure the flow of money from county governments, taxpayers and officials.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- A bill signed into law in Springfield protects the participants in restorative-justice practices from having what they do or say used against them in court.

Restorative justice is a voluntary alternative to the criminal legal system. It brings together offenders and victims to find ways to repair the harm done, and the methods vary from group meetings or peacemaking circles, to mediation-style communications.

Madeleine Behr, policy manager for the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, said legal privilege will make these practices more viable options for survivors.

"Now, without this privilege, that really deters people who have caused harm from being open and honest in the process about what actually happened," Behr explained. "And for a survivor, so many people are looking for an apology, a reckoning, an admission of guilt."

Behr added the criminal legal system can be traumatizing for survivors, who may have to convince prosecutors of what happened to them or testify in court. Public opinion polls show more than 60% of Americans support restorative-justice policies.

Behr pointed out there is a common misperception criminal-justice reform and victim advocacy are oppositional. But she argued restorative justice is an example of the crucial collaboration between reformers and advocates for victims' rights.

"It not only offers perpetrators to take accountability and recognize the harm that they've caused in a different way, but it also really expands options for survivors, who are looking for some form of accountability and probably don't want to get it from the criminal legal system, for a whole host of reasons," Behr stated.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker also signed laws to end deception in interrogations of juveniles, to allow state's attorneys to petition for re-sentencing of offenders, and create a task force to study ways to reduce the prison population.

Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, who sponsored the restorative-justice bill, said the laws are important steps, and even more can be done to ensure public safety.

"Where everyone has a roof over their head, a good school, a good job, a sense of neighborly love and community, that is real public safety for all," Peters stressed.

PACIFIC COUNTY, Wash. -- As parts of the country rethink criminal justice, a small county in Washington state is providing a model on how to better serve communities.

Pacific County, on Washington's southwest coast, is one of the Stepping Up Initiative's first "innovator counties." The aim of the initiative is to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in jail.

Rosanne McPhail, grant coordinator for the Pacific County justice mental health collaboration program, said the county has ensured people are linked up with behavioral health specialists once they leave jail.

"Pretty primary to us at the beginning was the need for someone to be in the jail that would act as that connector," McPhail explained. "And we did implement a jail liaison position when we went into implementation phase."

McPhail recounted Pacific County joined the initiative in 2015 because they were seeing a high number of people with mental illnesses in their jail and a high rate of recidivism. She noted collecting and sharing data is a key ingredient to the success of their program.

Pat Matlock, chief criminal deputy for the Pacific County Sheriff's Office, said he has seen a big change since the Stepping Up Initiative was implemented.

Pacific County is small, with a population of about 20,000 and a jail that holds 50, and Matlock pointed out they use every resource they have to get by. He added there are procedures in place to mark people's progress once they come in contact with the criminal-justice system.

"We've seen a sharp decrease in the recidivism of people who are high utilizers in our jail facility because we have those warm handoffs when they leave," Matlock stated. "While they're in our facility, they meet with the liaison, they get hooked up with the services they need to help them succeed outside of our facility."

McPhail believes counties of all sizes can benefit from the Stepping Up Initiative, which has facilitated conversations across the country.

"We've benefited from connecting with other counties and learned what other counties are doing in certain areas and then be able to adapt it to what will work in our area because of our size," McPhail remarked.

There are seven counties in the original cohort of the initiative, including counties in California, Kansas and Florida.