Disabled adult son don’t have guardianship

Hello @aguerra9 and welcome to Mayo Connect. Your situation is understandably heartbreaking for you. Have you consulted with an attorney in your area to see if there are any options for you to gain some rights over your son's care?

If seeing an attorney is too costly for you, perhaps there is a legal aid clinic in your community.

Do you live in the U.S. or elsewhere?

I do live in Phx AZ. Yes I’ve tried contacting lawyers too much money I feel hopeless seems like there’s no help.

@aguerra9
Perhaps Child/Adult Protective Services could help you. They can get you free legal assistance if you qualify for their services.
Jake

Have you looked into legal aid clinics in your area, @aguerra9? If not, call the Arizona State Bar and see what they might be able to suggest.

You might want to get in touch with an organization called Parent 2 Parent (P2P). They are a group that has been around for many years. They have resource info on their site and regular meetings for parents to discuss issues. I’m sure it must include parents of adult children. They also have an annual conference. These are parents, not lawyers - however they will council members to contact a lawyer when needed,

The Texas P2P is very strong and has a good website of info:
https://www.txp2p.org/
National website with links to every state with a chapter:
https://www.p2pusa.org/parents/
The Helen Journal, named after Helen Keller, also has good info. Your adult child can designate a health care proxy, I believe this is a simpler solution to guardianship. See info below and web link.

“Parents should be aware of the basics of patient rights.
Their adult child is presumed to be competent to make his or her own medical decisions. Their child has a right under the ADA to have a support person help them make medical decisions. And federal law allows them to designate a parent as a patient representative who has access to medical records. Very little capacity is needed to designate a parent as a health care proxy. Many states recognize the validity of supported decision-making agreements (SDM) where a trusted supporter helps the patient make medical decisions. Providers have an obligation to show clear evidence of incapacity if they refuse to accept the patient’s authority to make his or her medical decisions or to delegate such authority. Parents have the right to assist their adult child in asking for a second opinion if a provider decides the patient lacks capacity for a particular decision. They have the right to help the patient file an appeal or a complaint for disability discrimination against the provider. “
https://helenjournal.org/september-2023/medical-decision-making-what-you-should-know
The US Dept of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau provides funds to states to handle guardianship. Your state probably has a website with information specific to your location.
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/focus-areas/guardianship

Jake they did the opposite they actually always told judge they were going to find me guilty of 6 charges all thru out courts and at the end judge asked him the caseworker for APS if those charges were going to get filed on me, and their response was we never found evidence. Know I know and hear about all the services my son could’ve gotten thru out his 24 years of living with me a single parent but it’s too late now.

I have I’ve called so many lawyers I did all I was told or that I knew about but since he’s a ward of the state hardly anyone wants to help. I did find a couple of lawyers too expensive I can’t afford them.

Thank you I’m going to look into it thank you very much.

Here is the link to info in Arizona
https://raisingspecialkids.org/
About this site:
“Raising Special Kids began in 1979 as a grass-roots effort of families, professionals, and community leaders determined to provide support and information for parents of children with disabilities and special health care needs. Today, Raising Special Kids serves as Arizona’s Family-to-Family Health Information Center, and as Arizona’s Parent Training and Information Center. Helping parents access information about health care, community resources, and support services so they can make informed decisions regarding their children’s care has been our mission from the beginning. We support thousands of Arizona families each year through our programs and services.”

@aguerra9

If you have not found this website, it has info for AZ Legal Aid:
https://www.azbar.org/for-the-public/public-service-center/legal-aid-resources/