Welcome to TGA’s Guardianship Academy, an online, on-demand education platform for guardianship education. Courses in the Academy have been recorded from previously offered TGA education webinars and conference sessions and some offer JBCC and/or MCLE continuing education credit.
How to Use
Select the course you would like to take and fill out the registration form. You will receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to access the course materials and video. Courses include downloadable copies of materials included with the course.
Upon completion of 90% of the video, you will receive a certificate of completion*.
Courses Available
When Mental Health & Guardianship Intersect
At times, cases involving persons in mental health crisis might be supported/aided by guardianship. Learn when & how that could happen, & ways to assist when emergency detention is needed.
Credit: 1.0 CE | 1.0 CLE
Member Price: $25 Non-Member Price: $45
Texas Guardianship Manual – Chapter 4: Creating Guardianships
Chapter 4 of the Texas Guardianship Manual provides an essential narrative on creating guardianships with related forms and commentary. This session will provide instruction on the process of filing a guardianship proceeding and peripheral issues that must be considered when initiating a guardianship. The presenter will refer to an online version of the Texas Guardianship Manual throughout the presentation.
Credit: 1.0 CE | 1.0 CLE
Member Price: $25 Non-Member Price: $45
Texas Guardianship Manual – Chapter 2: Temporary Guardianships and Other Emergency Relief
Chapter 2 of the Texas Guardianship Manual provides an essential narrative on temporary guardianships and other emergency relief with related forms and commentary. This session will provide instruction on the process of filing and managing a temporary guardianship proceeding and peripheral issues that must be considered when initiating a temporary guardianship. This session will also analyze other alternative options for emergency relief that may be alternatives to temporary guardianship. The presenter will refer to an online version of the Texas Guardianship Manual throughout the presentation.
Credit: 1.0 CE | 1.0 CLE
Member Price: $25 Non-Member Price: $45
Investing 101 for Guardians
Providing information regarding financial topics (including various assets types) to private professional guardians.
Credit: 0.5 CE | 0.5 CLE
Member Price: $25 Non-Member Price: $45
A very Texan response to the movie “I Care A Lot (Part 1 of 2)
A Statutory Probate Court Judge, a Texas Guardianship Attorney and a Private Professional Guardian discuss the movie “I Care A Lot.”
Credit: 1.0 CE | 1.0 CLE
Member Price: $25 Non-Member Price: $45
A very Texan response to the movie “I Care A Lot” (Part 2 of 2)
A Texas guardianship attorney discusses the process of correctly removing inappropriate guardians.
Credit: 1.0 CE | 1.0 CLE
Member Price: $25 Non-Member Price: $45
Guardianship Law and Ethics Review of Texas Guardianship Certification Exam
OBJECTIVES:
This course provides an overview of Guardianship in Texas, the Texas Estates Code, the JBCC Rules, JBCC Ethics & Standards and an overview of the practical application of statutes and rules.
Speakers:
- Marie Rodriguez
- Tyra Hinton
Credit: no CE/CLE
Creating Care Plans For Individuals With Mental Illness
Staff members of Sage Care Management discuss how to create a care plan for individuals with mental illness
Speaker: Byron Cordes, Sage Care Management
Supports and Services: Empowering Individuals Subject to Guardianship Proceedings
How can we empower individuals subject to guardianship proceedings? This session will address self-determination before, during and after guardianship proceedings for individuals with disabilities. Attorney panelists will discuss the law behind person-centered planning, alternatives to guardianship, and supports and services. The panelists with live experience will illustrate how supports and services work in practice. The session will use the individual’s bill of rights to demonstrate opportunities for person-centered planning and supports and services within the realm of guardianship.
Speakers: Hannah Cramer, J.D., Staff Attorney, Rio Grande Legal Aid
Taft Robinson, J.D., Staff Attorney, Disability Rights Texas
Guardianships: Tips from the Bench
In this presentation, Hon. Judge Amanda Matzke will discuss scenarios commonly encountered in guardianship courts in Texas, from common to complex, and the techniques and strategies a judge may employ to resolve issues regarding the personal and financial well-being of individuals who come before the court.
Speaker: Hon. Judge Amanda Matzke
Aging Process and Disabilities
Dr. Julia Hiner analyzes how normal aging involves complex physiologic and psychologic changes throughout the body, which although predictable across populations, are experienced in less homogeneous ways by individuals. Unlike cognitive disability, normal aging allows preservation of cognitive function and independence, without eventual incapacity. However, in cognitive disability of neurologic, cognitive, and psychiatric causes, there is a high degree of variability in long-term outcomes. Dr. Hiner explores normal aging versus cognitive disability, the prognosis of common cognitive disabilities, the treatments and supports needed to achieve optimal outcomes, and the likelihood of capacity restoration with guardianship reversal.
After completing this session, attendees will be better able to recognize normal and abnormal aging, anticipate long-term courses of common causes of incapacity and guardianship, and maximize a person’s opportunities for independent function and capacity restoration.
Speaker: Dr. Julia Hiner, M.D., Program Director, Geriatric Medicine Fellowship; UTHealth Houston, McGovern Medical School
The Arc of Texas Master Pooled Trust- How Pooled Trusts Can Be a Great Alternative
The Master Pooled Trust (MPT) and other pooled trusts are great alternatives to the guardianship puzzle. We will discuss what a pooled trust is, how it differs from a traditional supplemental needs trust and how it fits into the guardianship landscape. Learn how a pooled trust can work for individuals and their families to protect funds, keep means-tested benefits, and potentially avoid guardianship – all while improving quality of life. You will also learn how future planning using a pooled trust can benefit the individual’s quality of life, in the long term, without the need for costly interventions.
Speaker: Haley Greer, Director, Arc of Texas Master Pooled Trust
Mediation as an Alternative Process for Guardianship Dispute
Gene Valentini will discuss alternative methods for resolving guardianship disputes/issues and various techniques that can help resolve guardianship disputes that are in the guardian’s best interest. Viewers will be exposed to various dispute resolution approaches that can assist parties and attorneys with resolving disputes and avoid having a judicial outcome.
Speaker: Gene Valentini
Critical Mental Health Considerations for Guardianship
Speakers from National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Texas discuss the following objectives:
- What the members of the guardianship community should be aware of as it relates to resources for individuals and families affected by serious mental illness.
- Skills and tools members of the guardianship community should have when interacting with individuals and families affected by serious mental illness.
- Issues that might apply to professional guardians when they are assigned as third-party guardians for a person with mental illness because family members are unable or unwilling to be the guardian.
Speakers:
- Greg Hansch, Executive Director, NAMI Texas
- Jessica Miller, Program Director, NAMI Texas
- Becca Ortiz, Operations Manager, NAMI Texas
Guardianship: A Judge’s Perspective
Hon. Judge Amy Parsons discusses various areas of guardianship in Texas including:
- Guardianship law
- Common stumbles
- Guardians
- Applications
- Required appointments
- Capacity standard
- Hearings
- Causes of incapacity
- Physician examination
- Lesser restrictive alternatives
- Day in court
Speaker: Hon. Judge Amy Parsons, Harris County Probate Court