Definitions

APS: Adult Protective Services, a division of the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department. Applications submitted by APS are prioritized for DDPC’s guardianship services.

Corporate Guardian: an individual or agency under contract with the DDPC is appointed by a court as guardian for an incapacitated (protected) person who has no family or friends willing, able and appropriate to be his or her guardian.

Court Visitor: an individual appointed by the court who has no interest in the proceeding and who has training or expertise to appropriately evaluate the needs of the alleged incapacitated person. A court visitor may be a social worker, a psychologist, a developmental incapacity professional, a physical or occupational therapist, an educator or a rehabilitation worker.

DHI: Division of Health Improvement, New Mexico Department of Health. Applications submitted by DHI are prioritized for DDPC’s guardianship services.

Family Guardianship: the alleged incapacitated person’s family member or friend is appointed by the court to act as guardian of that person.

Foley Settlement Party: a party to the 2010 settlement of the Foley lawsuit, which includes former residents of the state’s Training Schools who are not members of the Jackson class. The January 8, 2010 Settlement Outline was approved March 26, 2010 by the federal district court. By state rule, a Foley Settlement Party has priority in receiving DDPC’s guardianship services.

Functional Impairment: an impairment that is measured by a person’s inability to manage that person's personal care or the person's inability to manage that person’s estate or financial affairs or both. Capacity: a person’s legal qualification, competency, power or fitness, and the ability to understand the nature and effects of his or her acts.

Guardian: an individual appointed by a court to make personal and health care decisions for an incapacitated person who is unable to manage his or her personal or financial affairs.

Guardianship: the court-appointed guardian makes personal care decisions for the Protected Person (incapacitated person deemed in need of a guardian) that include medical care, nutrition, clothing, shelter, hygiene, safety and daily living. Guardianship removes considerable personal rights from the Protected Person, and should only be considered after alternatives have proven ineffective or unavailable. The guardianship must encourage the Protected Person’s independence and should be limited only to those powers necessary to help with the Protected Person’s mental and physical limitations.

There are four (4) Types of Guardianship:

Full/Plenary Guardianship: the most restrictive type of guardianship, authorized by a court only when an alleged incapacitated person is found to lack capacity to care for himself or herself and only if no less restrictive option exists.
Limited Guardianship: the court order limits a guardian's decision making for the Protected Person to only those personal care decisions the Protected Person cannot make himself or herself.
Temporary Guardianship: if there is a risk of immediate and irreparable harm to the alleged incapacitated person, the court may appoint a temporary guardian with specified powers before the final hearing to determine whether the guardianship will be permanent. A temporary guardianship shall not exceed sixty days, with a possible thirty day extension.
Transfer/Successor Guardianship: a guardian is appointed by the court after the death or resignation of a previously-appointed guardian.

Guardian ad Litem: an individual appointed by the court to represent and protect the interests of an alleged incapacitated person in a guardianship proceeding.

Jackson Class Member: a member of the class of persons who, beginning in 1987, sued in federal court challenging the institutionalization of developmentally disabled persons at the state-owned and operated Fort Stanton and Los Lunas Hospitals and Training Schools, and seeking the move of these persons to integrated, family-like settings within the community. By state rule, a Jackson Class Member has priority in receiving DDPC’s guardianship services.

Person Needing a Guardian: Also known as an alleged incapacitated person: a person who demonstrates over time either partial or complete functional impairment by reason of mental illness, mental deficiency, physical illness or disability, chronic use of drugs, chronic intoxication or other cause, except minority, to the extent that the person is unable to manage and make decisions regarding his or her personal affairs or estate and financial affairs, or both.

Protected Person: a person for whom a guardian or conservator has been appointed.

Qualified Health Care Professional: an individual appointed by the court to examine the alleged incapacitated person and report to the court — in a Report of Health Care Professional — the nature and degree of the person’s incapacity, if any; the level of the person’s intellectual, developmental and social functioning; and observations and supporting data regarding the person’s ability to make health care decisions and manage the activities of daily living (ADLs). A QHCP can include a physician, a psychologist, a nurse practitioner or another health care practitioner whose training and expertise aid in the assessment of functional impairment.

Requestor: the individual applying for guardianship for a Person Needing a Guardian.

Treatment Guardian: a person, appointed by the court pursuant to the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code [NMSA 1978, Section 43-1-15], who can make substitute decisions for an incapacitated person regarding mental health treatment, including the use of psychotropic medications, for a specified period of time, not to exceed one year.

Veteran: a person who served honorably on active duty in the armed forces of the United States; includes discharges marked General and Under Honorable Conditions.