Trumbull judge to head panel to develop guardianship model

The committee received a $15,000 grant to fund the work.

WARREN — Judge Thomas A. Swift of Trumbull County Probate Court will head a committee of the Ohio Supreme Court that will develop a plan and a national model for guardianships.

A guardianship is a method for putting someone in charge of another person’s personal and financial matters because of that particular person’s physical or mental limitations.

Guardianships are most common among the older population and are usually handled by a family member, though guardians can also be appointed for children and young adults.

A person without a family member to handle the job can have a professional guardian appointed.

Judge Swift said guardianships came under scrutiny in the 1980s for abuses that were uncovered by various news reporters. Ohio’s problems were not as severe as those found in states such as Florida, Texas and California, but improvements are still needed, Judge Swift said.

Judge Swift participated in the revisions to the Ohio guardianship laws in 1990.

He will participate in the new effort as chairman of the court’s Interdisciplinary Guardianship Committee, which was selected by the American Bar Association to receive a $15,000 grant to develop the plan.

Among the committee’s goals is to develop a statewide system of guardianship monitoring and data collection and create minimum standards and certification for professional guardians.

Judge Swift is immediate past president of the Ohio Association of Probate Judges and serves on other local and statewide committees.