Volunteer Guardians
What We Do
The Volunteer Guardianship program recruits, trains and supports court-appointed volunteer guardians and conservators for individuals who can no longer make informed decisions for themselves. The volunteers become substitute decision makers. Individuals in need of this service have been determined by the Circuit Court to be incapacitated and have no family or friends who are willing or able to be appointed guardian and or conservator.
A Volunteer Guardian is a court-appointed individual authorized to make personal and healthcare related decisions. A Volunteer Conservator is also court-appointed and is responsible for managing the financial and property matters of the incapacitated individual.
Ongoing training and technical assistance are provided to the volunteers. Volunteers in this program must make difficult decisions for their clients.
Who Volunteer Guardians Serve
- Individuals age 18 and older, although primarily older adults
- Individuals who lack capacity to make decisions due to mental or physical impairment
- Persons not capable of handling personal or financial matters
- Active clients of the Department of Human Services
- Persons with a medical/psychiatric/psychological evaluation completed by a licensed professional that verifies their need for a guardian or conservator
Volunteer Qualifications
- 21 years or older
- Volunteers must be Virginia residents but are not required to be Arlington County residents
- No criminal record, verified by a criminal history background check
- Good credit standing, verified by a credit history background check
- Visit our training page
Time Commitment
- Since Volunteer Guardians and Conservators are Court-appointed, we are looking for volunteers interested in a long-term commitment
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