The National Center for State Courts, in cooperation with the ABA Commission on Law and Aging (COLA) and the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) created technology and data standards for court case management systems for guardianship and conservatorship cases. Most case management systems are designed to track cases from filing to disposition. However, courts are required to monitor guardianship and conservatorship cases for as long as the guardianship or conservatorship is in place.

NCSC, ABA-COLA, and NDRN brought together a group of subject matter experts from around the country to discuss what courts need to effectively monitor the well-being and financial assets of those subject to guardianship or conservatorship. These experts included guardians, subject matter experts from state administrative offices of the courts, representatives from local courts, CMS vendors, and attorneys. The group used reviews of existing CMS systems, surveys, and focus groups to develop detailed user stories to describe the needs of judicial officers, court staff, guardians and conservators, and those subject to guardianship and conservatorship. These user stories were the basis for new standards.

The standards were approved by the National Association of Court Management (NACM), the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) and the Joint Technology Committee (JTC) and are now official court technology standards. They, along with supplemental materials, can be viewed here.

The new standards were shared at the 2024 eCourts conference and in two webinars, found here: Maximizing Your CMS for Effective Guardianship Oversight and Innovative Guardianship Improvements – Enhancing Electronic Systems to Better Support Court Monitoring.

For more information on monitoring guardianships and conservatorships, please visit here.