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Conference Agenda
Wednesday, April 23
9:00 - 12:00pm - PreConference Workshop*
Calming Rough Seas: Managing Anger & Finding Common Ground
Ronna Caras Director of Training The Center for Guardianship Excellence This session explores understanding, preventing, and managing anger effectively in high-stress situations. Part 1 examines common forms and causes of anger, errors made under stress, and how adrenaline impacts reasoning, with insights into how family members express anger toward guardians. Part 2 focuses on preventive strategies, including building rapport, identifying values and needs, and using communication techniques to reduce conflict. Part 3 introduces practical calming methods, such as the SAIL technique, effective phrasing for disarming anger, presenting solutions, and handling no-win situations constructively.
*additional fees apply
1:30 - 1:45pm - Conference Welcome
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1:45 - 3:15pm - General Session
Examining the Guardianship Hearing Process: The Relationship Between Competency and Capacity and the Guardianship Hearing Process as a Forum for Such Determinations – A Discussion and a Study
Hugh Lee, JD Teaching Professor Co-Director of Accreditation & Continuous Quality Improvement Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University The North Carolina Statutes provide a specific procedure and standard for establishing guardianship over individual deemed legally incompetent. The determination is a mixed question of law, fact, and medical opinion. Although the statutes stipulate a hearing process, a required multidisciplinary evaluation and an impartial fact-finder, there are concerns about the quality of that statutory mechanism for determining competency. This talk will focus on the process of determining competency and the differences between competency and capacity. It will also introduce a new study being conducted by researchers at Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University and the School of Government at the University of North Carolina which surveys attorneys and clerks concerning their perceptions of the guardianship process.
3:45 - 5:15pm - Breakout Sessions
Kathleen Rodberg Shareholder & Board Certified Elder Law Attorney McGuire Wood & Bissette, P.A. Guardianship law in North Carolina is in the midst of positive changes and modernization. As those changes are taking place, learn how to use North Carolina's existing guardianship laws, and alternatives, for the management of affairs without a court-ordered guardianship. This session will focus on practical steps people can take, either before a guardianship is put in place or after a guardian has been appointed, to use the existing laws to avoid court-supervised guardianships.
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Practical Alternatives - Legal Mechanisms to Avoid, or Remove, Guardianship
Navigating Medicare and Medicaid
Tom Crick Medicare Medicaid Advisors Selecting and acquiring benefits for clients is often a major hurdle. In this session participants will better understand Medicare and Medicaid, learn how to navigate state and federal programs, and gain tips to help beneficiaries acquire and utilize extra benefits. Resources and tools will be provided that will allow you to improve the quality of life for those you serve. This session is sponsored by MMA
5:15 - 7:00pm - Welcome Dinner & Cash Bar
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Thursday, April 24
8:00 - 8:30am - Continental Breakfast
8:30 - 10:00am - General Session
Supported Decision-Making: From Theory to Practice
Jonathan Martinis Founder Jonathan Gerald Martinis, LLC This session will show participants practical ways to incorporate Supported Decision-Making into the supports and services people with disabilities use every day, including Special Education, Vocational Rehabilitation, Health Care, and Money Management
10:30 - 12:00pm - General Session
Managing and Monitoring Guardianships
Amy Willoughby Bryant Director Office of Conservatorship Management NGA President This will be a best practices session for guardianships when they are necessary. This session will also detail the latest from the National Guardianship Association. This allows the judges to put the least restrictive authorities in place and maintain the most autonomy for the person with a disability. This session will also detail how states can develop programs of oversight of guardians by detailing how guardianship management is done in Tennessee. A blueprint will be provided for oversight and monitoring of the person and the estate.
12:00 - 1:00pm - NCGA Networking Lunch
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1:00 - 2:15pm - General Session
The Role of the Guardian Ad Litem (GAL): What's New, What's the
Same, and What's Coming?
Timothy Heinle UNC School of Government This session will provide an overview of the significant changes to guardianship (and the role of the GAL) in recent years, and a reminder of what has not changed. The session will also forecast possible changes on the horizon, with attendees being invited to discuss their reactions and the potential pros and cons.
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2:30 - 3:45pm - General Session
Restoration to Competency - A Panel Discussion​
Nicole A. Engel, Attorney, Johnston, Allison & Hord, PA Linda Kendall Fields, M.Ed., Director of Cares, UNC School of Social Work Stacey Skradski, Empowering Lives Guardianship Services LLC Nelia Willis, Assistant Clerk of Superior Court, Forsyth County, North Carolina Many North Carolinians may be living under unnecessary or unnecessarily restrictive guardianships. Yet restorations to competency, or the dissolutions of guardianships, are rare. In light of recent legislative changes memorializing the policy that guardianship should be a last resort and requiring the consideration of less restrictive alternatives, the path to restoring competency should be less obstructive than ever before. Hear from a panel of experts about when to consider restoration and how to assist persons under guardianship with seeking restorations to competency.
4:15 - 5:30pm - Breakout Sessions ​
Documentation
Stacey Skradski Guardian Representative/Co-Owner Empowering Lives Guardianship Services LLC Documentation is the foundational to the practice guardianship and yet this is an area that offers the least amount of training opportunities. Whether a professional or an advocate, documentation can make or break your efforts for and with the individual for whom you were appointed. This session will move from assessment, through guardianship planning and onto evaluation of the process (Status Reports).
Balancing Guardianship and Self-Determination
Sarah Richardson Adult Services Program Administrator NC DHHS Division of Social Services Explore the critical role of self-determination in guardianship, emphasizing that it should be a last resort when no better alternatives exist. Learn how guardians serve as advocates, ensuring individualized approaches that respect autonomy while providing necessary protection.
Friday, April 25
8:00 - 8:30am - Continental Breakfast
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8:30 - 10:00am - General Session
Examining the Healthcare to Guardianship Pipeline Across the Country
Erica Costello, JD, NCG Associate Director ABA Commission on Law and Aging This session will examine guardianships that originate from healthcare settings. Findings from research studies will be discussed. Tools and strategies that can be used to divert people away from guardianships to less restrictive alternatives will be provided.
10:00 - 11:30am - Clerks Panel
Moderated by Hon. Mark Kleinschmidt
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11:30am - Closing Remarks