Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Guardianship Program Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Kansas Guardianship Program budget: volunteer base continues; stipend, equipment and staffing changes noted
Summary
The Kansas Guardianship Program presented a budget that relies on State General Fund support for staffing and server replacements, reported about 710 active volunteers and roughly 1,183 cases (June 30), and said monthly volunteer stipends are $40.
Julia Kofoid (Legislative Research) and Nancy Mayberry (interim director, Kansas Guardianship Program) presented the program’s budget. The program recruits and trains volunteer guardians for adults who lack family or financial resources; volunteers serve as court‑appointed guardians or conservators while the program acts as surety on volunteer bonds.
The agency requested just over $1.5 million for fiscal year 2025, the same as the approved amount; the agency carried forward almost $100,000 in reappropriations linked to leadership changes (including director position), but the Legislative Budget Committee removed those reappropriations from its recommendation. The governor’s recommendation included the funds. The program also included capital outlay requests (computer server replacement and related microcomputer equipment); Julia said capital increases reflected plans to replace aging servers and update software and monitors.
The presentation noted monthly volunteer stipends of $40 and said the program had around 717 guardians in the program at one point in the packet; interim director Nancy Mayberry told the committee the program served 1,183 cases and had 710 active volunteers as of June 30. The agency proposed a 5% pay raise request for employees in FY26; LBC removed the pay raise as part of a global recommendation but the governor included it in her budget.
Representative Ballard and others praised the volunteer model and noted the program’s long record of volunteer retention; Mayberry said volunteer stipends were economically modest and that volunteers’ work produces large cost savings compared with paid guardian models in other states.
