Hello everyone,

I’m John Schulte from Catholic Charities St. Francis Community Services.

Today, we’re going to talk about our Catholic Legal Assistance Ministry, or CLAM. At CLAM, we do both immigration work as well as family law work, and some of that family law work is focused on guardianship.

Our guardianship department is run by a group of very capable attorney volunteers. Today, we’re going to dig into guardianship with the help of Ted Agniel, who has been a volunteer with us for quite some time.

So, what is a guardian? A guardian, very simply put, is a person who is legally obliged to look after the best interests of the ward—the person for whom they are a guardian.

And what kinds of guardianships are there? There are guardianships for minors—children under the age of 18—as well as guardianships for adults who have disabilities, are incapacitated, and need a guardian in order to get by in the world.

When we talk about “getting by in the world,” what are some of the reasons someone might need a guardianship? Very simply, there are many reasons, but generally it’s to help a person receive medical care, or for a minor, to help with educational issues.

Ted, can you talk a little bit about some of the people you’ve helped recently so we can get a better feel for who we’re serving through our guardianship work?

Ted Agniel, Guardianship Volunteer Attorney:

Yeah, there are a couple. One involved an elderly woman—a grandmother—who was caring for a young child. The child’s mother had very recently passed away, and the father was incarcerated. The little boy needed help getting into school and accessing medical care. We were able to help the grandmother obtain guardianship for him. This is really one of the typical situations we’re able to help with.

Another case involved a young man from Africa whose first language was Swahili and who was learning English. He needed a guardianship so he could care for his disabled sister. Their parents were no longer able to take care of her. We were able to file the petition and secure a court interpreter fluent in both Swahili and English. Our client was able to testify very articulately about the care he was providing and the care his sister needed. In both cases, it was very gratifying work.

John Schulte:

Well, Ted, we can’t thank you enough for the work that you do. I’m sure you get a lot out of working with these folks as well.

Ted Agniel:

These folks are just the salt of the earth. I admire them for their dedication and commitment to going out of their way to help family and friends when they don’t legally have to. They really are the best. It’s great working with them.

John Schulte:

That’s awesome. Thank you. And thanks as well to our entire guardianship volunteer department. It’s a group of very powerful, capable people who get a lot done for this community. They truly make it worth coming to work.

John Schulte
Executive Director
St. Francis Community Services