Are you exploring opportunites to make a difference? Consider becoming a volunteer Court Visitor!

The Office of Public Guardian is an office of last resort, meaning that the people we serve have no other person in their life able to serve as their guardian and/or conservator. Court Visitors are crucial parts of the appointment process, conducting interviews and providing a neutral, third party report to the Court. This is a volunteer, case-by-case opportunity for persons with social work, legal, medical, and/or human services backgrounds. Specific duties include:

• Use a screening tool to gather information from and about the potentially incapacitated person
• Visit the person in their home
• Collect information about how they process information, make decisions, and their abilities to care for themselves
• Gather and report information to help the court decide:
  • Whether the person needs further clinical evaluations, where there are areas of conflicting information between various interviewees
  • Whether the person’s legal rights are being protected
  • What level of decision making support will be most appropriate for each individual
  • Whether there may be people in the individual’s personal support network to serve as a guardian

The time commitment is estimated at 5-20 hours per case, with a 15 hour average. Court Visitors are able to choose which counties they serve, how many cases to accept, etc. The Office of Public Guardian provides all training at no cost to the volunteers. Background checks and an interview are required.

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To learn more about the volunteer Court Visitor program, please contact the Office of Public Guardian's Education & Outreach Coordinator, Erin Wiesen.

Email: Erin.Wiesen@nebraska.gov