A growing gap between the number of Wyoming residents who need court-appointed guardians and the state's available guardianship resources emerged as a top concern at the Mental Health & Vulnerable Adult Task Force meeting on June 30.

"Our court reviews those reports every 6 months," Emily Smith, executive director of the Wyoming Guardianship Corporation, said when asked how guardianship oversight works. Smith told the task force her nonprofit oversees about 170 guardianships statewide and currently has a waitlist of roughly 36 people.

Christie Gordy, senior administrator in the Department of Family Services, told the task force the department had asked the governor and legislature for supplemental funding in the prior session to support guardianship-related legal fees and direct services; she said the request amounted to just over $500,000 per year but the supplemental did not pass. Gordy also described limited baseline funding for adult-protection operations: "the Department of Family Services receives $80,000 in state general fund every biennium and about $120,000 in federal funds every biennium," she said, noting that current regular funding is small compared with need.

Why it matters: Guardianship can be a necessary, court-ordered intervention when an adult cannot manage finances or health decisions and has no suitable family caregiver. Task force witnesses said professional guardians are scarce, especially for complex cases (for example, young adults with developmental disabilities or people with dementia), and that lack of guardianship can leave people without financial oversight or access to housing and medical decisions.

Public testimony and examples

Multiple members of the public and provider representatives told personal stories of extended waits or worries about guardian choices and costs. One family member said her 93-year-old mother's finances were being rapidly consumed by in-home care payments arranged after a guardianship order; she asked whether the court could better protect estate resources. Lawmakers and advocates urged a review of Wyoming's guardianship statutes and oversight practices.

Discussion and committee requests

Representatives of the Wyoming Guardianship Corporation and aging-resource and advocacy groups recommended additional state funding to expand professional guardianship capacity and to reduce waiting lists. Sam Shumway of ARP Wyoming and providers supported renewed budgetary attention: Shumway noted temporary ARPA-funded guardianship support had expired and urged the task force to consider a new funding request.

The task force asked agencies to assemble more precise counts of need, cost estimates for expanding guardianship capacity, and options for statutory or administrative changes that could strengthen oversight and protect estates while ensuring vulnerable adults receive needed decisions and care.