Rule 180-D - Guardianship monitoring program of the Office of the Public Guardian(a) Guardianship Monitoring Program of the Office of the Public Guardian. - The Guardianship Monitoring Program of the Office of the Public Guardian shall, in addition to responsibilities assigned by the Office of the Public Guardian, be responsible for monitoring the Court's guardianship docket. This monitoring shall take the following forms: (1) Routine audit of active cases. - The Guardianship Monitoring Program may perform routine audits of active guardianship cases, without further order of the Court, other than those cases in which the Office of the Public Guardian serves as an appointed guardian. Such audits shall be conducted randomly on an annual basis. The Guardianship Monitoring Program shall have the discretion to determine the number of cases selected for routine audit based on staff availability and other parameters established by the Office of the Public Guardian.(2) Review and investigation upon Court referral. - The Court may, on its own initiative or upon request, refer any guardianship case to the Guardianship Monitoring Program of the Office of the Public Guardian for review or investigation. The Court order referring the case to the Guardianship Monitoring Program of the Office of the Public Guardian shall specify the issues or concerns to be investigated.(b) Access to records. - The Office of the Public Guardian shall have access to the docket in any active guardianship case without further order of the Court. Except as otherwise noted in the order of referral, any referral of a case to the Guardianship Monitoring Program under Rule 180 -D(a)(2) also shall confer upon the Office of the Public Guardian access to all financial records, accounts, banking documents, insurance records and other financial information of a person with a disability, as well as access to all medical records, treatment providers, clinical information, and other healthcare information of the person with a disability.(c) Reports and referrals by the Office of the Public Guardian. - (1) If, upon either a routine audit or Court-ordered review of a guardianship case, the Office of the Public Guardian concludes that there is a reasonable basis to suspect that the person with a disability has been the victim of abuse or neglect, the Office of the Public Guardian shall refer the guardianship case to the appropriate state or local agency or agencies for investigation. If, upon either a routine audit or Court-ordered review of a guardianship case, the Office of the Public Guardian concludes that there is a reasonable basis to suspect that the person with a disability has been the victim of financial exploitation, the Office of the Public Guardian shall refer the case to the appropriate state or local agency or agencies for investigation. (2) Whenever the Guardianship Monitoring Program completes a routine audit of a guardianship case, a report summarizing such review shall be filed with the Court. When the Court refers a case to the Guardianship Monitoring Program for review, the referral order shall specify the date on which a written report shall be filed. Such report shall contain a detailed summary of the investigation conducted by the Guardianship Monitoring Program, any facts obtained through such investigation, any referral(s) made to another agency for further investigation, and any recommendation for immediate action by the Court. Reports of the Guardianship Monitoring Program are confidential and interested parties will not receive copies of the report except by approval of the Court. (d) Testimony. - A representative of the Guardianship Monitoring Program shall be available upon request of the Court or any interested party to testify regarding the review or investigation conducted by the Guardianship Monitoring Program.Amended April 23, 2018, effective 7/1/2018.