Court opts for family in dispute with Department of Human Services

Court opts for family in dispute with Department of Human Services
By JENNIFER JACOBS jejacobs@dmreg.com
August 01, 2010 06:57 AM

A judge has awarded guardianship of 79-year-old Bob Queener to his niece and a state senator, ending a seven-month battle with the Iowa Department of Human Services over who should oversee the Des Moines man's health care, housing and general well-being. Queener's relatives spoke out publicly after a DHS worker removed him from his home on Dec. 8 without notifying any relatives, who panicked when they discovered he was missing. The court-approved emergency removal led to a series of decisions that were outside the family's control.

Queener was isolated for months in locked psychiatric and nursing home units, unable to leave on family outings. A court-appointed conservator began to dispose of his possessions without his knowledge - including memorabilia from his military service - then put up for sale the mortgage-free house he had kept tidy for four decades. On Thursday, overruling DHS's opposition, Polk County Associate Probate Judge Ruth Klotz awarded guardianship of Queener, who has dementia, to his niece, Cheri Jensen of Altoona, and Sen. Dennis Black, D-Lynnville, who had stepped in to advocate on behalf of Queener and Jensen.

"Now we're able to work on filling his bucket list," said Jensen, who celebrated Thursday's news with her uncle and several relatives. "Bob's welfare is what this means to me. He's still able to walk and talk, and why keep him locked away just because we have a short-term memory problem?" Black said he would push for state law changes to give families of people who can no longer live alone more say in their treatment. In her ruling Wednesday, Klotz made a point to say that despite criticism about what happened to Queener, she believed DHS officials followed the law "in all instances." Klotz also defended the two volunteers the court appointed to serve as guardian and conservator.

A guardian oversees health and well-being of an individual who is mentally incompetent and makes day-to-day decisions for the person. A conservator is responsible for the ward's finances, bills, investments and taxes. The judge said in her ruling that she would make a decision later on a permanent conservator for Queener. The judge said she made her decision to pick Jensen and Black "with some concern." Klotz said she hoped they do only what's in Queener's best interests, not just what he wishes.

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