The National Center on Law and Elder Rights (NCLER) is excited to invite legal services organizations to apply for the 2024 Advancing Guardianship Defense Cohort. 

Legal assistance organizations across the country are recognizing that a skilled, passionate lawyer, ready to fight for the wishes of their client, is an effective way not only to protect the rights and autonomy of older adults facing or under guardianship, but also to improve the guardianship system as a whole. 

The Advancing Guardianship Defense Cohort is a six-month training and peer-to-peer learning program focused on building capacity and expertise in guardianship defense to better serve older adults by strengthening skills, processes, and partnerships. Cohort members will connect with and learn from other members around the country who are similarly committed to providing guardianship defense and improving guardianship systems. 

Members will also receive one-on-one technical assistance from NCLER to help them develop and implement their own programmatic initiative to advance and expand their provision of guardianship defense services to older adults, especially those older adults and communities presently underserved. NCLER will provide regular consultations, ongoing feedback, and provision of relevant resources to help members develop, refine, and implement their plans, tailoring technical assistance to fit the needs of the organization and initiative. 

There is still time to apply! Applications are due Thursday, April 25, 2024. 

Additional information can be found in the program application linked below. 

Program Application
 

Interested organizations should submit their application to participate in the Advancing Guardianship Defense Cohort by Thursday, April 25, 2024 to ConsultNCLER@acl.hhs.gov. 
Interested programs can also learn more about the Advancing Guardianship Defense Cohort in a recorded Zoom meeting and information session that was held on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. 

Information Session Recording
 

The Advancing Guardianship Defense Cohort will run from June through November 2024, and participating organizations will meet as a group on the following dates. To facilitate meaningful group discussions and technical support, applicants should consider their availability for all of these sessions. 

• Thursday, June 27, 2024 
• Thursday, July 18, 2024 
• Thursday, August 15, 2024 
• Thursday, September 19, 2024 
• Thursday, October 17, 2024 
• Thursday, November 21, 2024 

The above application is an opportunity for interested members of the NCLER network, and only organizations that are interested in participating need to apply. NCLER network members who do not participate in this full cohort program will receive ongoing resources developed as part of this program. NCLER will share learnings from the cohort with the entire network through trainings, practice tips, and other resources. 

Please email completed applications to ConsultNCLER@acl.hhs.gov.