I was wondering when this would come home to roost.  So I’m going to go against all my instincts and dive right in!

We had an issue about 8 years ago where the chairperson (who has a guardian) signed an agreement with another entity for them to provide paid ‘management’ services to the self-advocacy organization.  He and the board were essentially coerced into doing it.  Long story short we threatened to file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Disability Rights division if the entity didn’t ‘cease and desist’.  They were never heard from again.

The incident prompted me to contact the AG’s office.  We chose not to file a complaint or formal inquiry request so they only gave us ‘hypothetical’ responses.  I dug out my notes and here’s what they told us.

1.       Having a guardian does not exclude someone from participating on a non-profit board.

2.       A problem could arise if a person with signatory authority on behalf of the organization has a guardian.  It depends on the type of guardianship but most types would be a problem.

3.       They doubted that having the non-profit designate the guardian as signatory authority on behalf of the individual would hold up under legal scrutiny, since the guardian is not officially in the position.

4.       The president (chairperson), treasurer, and a paid executive (coordinator) are typically the signatory authorities for a non-profit.  It would be best if the chair and treasurer did not have guardians.  If that can’t be avoided then at the least only the paid staff should sign legal and financial documents, and checks.

5.       They suggested allowing people without disabilities to be on the board and designate co-chairs/treasurers, etc. when the self-advocate has a guardian.

6.       They suggested that the non-profit purchase “really good” board and management liability insurance (scary).

There were a bunch of other questions to which their response was that they knew of no legal precedent.  The final comment I have in my notes is “You guys always come up with the strangest problems”.  Not sure if she meant the Council or disability advocacy in general. 

We instructed our self-advocacy organization that we would not accept grant documents signed by a person with a guardian.  Everything since has been signed by the staff coordinator.   That may address our contractual situation with them (even that is questionable) but it doesn’t solve the bigger issue they face as a non-profit.  This is one of those situations where the best approach seems to be ‘don’t say anything and hopefully nobody will notice’.  Unfortunately we all know that eventually somebody does notice.  I wish there were a simple solution but I don’t have it.

Dan

Hello!

We recently had an interesting question posed to us regarding individuals who are not their own guardian serving as board members or in seats in which they have legal requirements.  For example, our self-advocacy organization is a 501(c)3 board and 100% of the board members are individuals with DD, many of whom are not their own guardians.   Has anyone tossed around the legal implications of this and found ways to overcome the barriers?

Thanks!

Nancy

Nancy Cronin

Executive Director

Maine Developmental Disabilities Council

207-287-4214

www.maineddc.org