Our mission is to provide needed protective services to vulnerable elderly, disabled, and mentally ill adults without regard to their financial resources. Our primary focus is the safety and well being of the individuals we serve and assisting them in maintaining residence in the least restrictive environment, allowing maximum independence. Services range from balancing checkbooks and seeing that appointments are kept, to protecting from physical harm and/or financial exploitation. Our goal is to continue networking with our other agencies in the community to identify individuals who are at risk of exploitation, self-neglect and/or abuse and to provide them with protective arrangements.

Description:
Services we provide include assisting individuals in maintaining residence in their own homes, avoiding nursing homes if possible, arranging for proper medical treatment when necessary, removing vulnerable individuals from abusive situations, stopping financial exploitation, attempting to minimize self-neglect while maintaining as much independence for the person as possible, initiating guardianship and/or conservatorship procedures when necessary, and pursuing less legal restrictive appointments such as power of attorney or representative payee when appropriate.

History:
Elderly, disabled, and mentally ill individuals in the Bismarck-Mandan and Fargo-Moorhead area are in need of protective arrangements. These vulnerable adults, without a family support system, and often with limited resources, are unable to secure protective arrangements. Agencies such as public nursing services, social services, human service centers, and senior centers frequently identify these individuals but do not have resources to establish protective arrangements and/or guardianships.
Guardian and Protective Services, Inc. began serving vulnerable adults in Bismarck-Mandan area in 1997 and in response to the need for services, established an office in the Fargo-Moorhead area in May 2000.

Contact person: Heidi Engen, Administrative Assistant, (701) 297-8988, (email)
Office fax number: (701) 451-9203

Address:

325 South 7th Street Suite 101 Fargo, ND 58103 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.gapsinc.org