03/17/2026
**** NCIL Condemns Push for Guardianship of Veterans ****
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recently announced a new agreement with the Department of Justice that will allow federal attorneys to pursue guardianship or conservatorship for certain Veterans who are deemed unable to make their own medical decisions and who lack family or a representative.
The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), a disability-led national organization, condemns this move.
Independent Living is grounded in the unwavering belief that all people with disabilities, including Veterans, must have the right to make decisions about their own lives. We have a long and troubling history showing that guardianship (and conservatorship) denies people those rights — the most basic civil and human rights.
In its recent move, the Veterans Administration has dressed this up in bureaucratic language. In fact, the proposed policy creates a pathway for the federal government to take away the civil rights of disabled Veterans.
Read the VA press release: https://bit.ly/3PnJ20N
Guardianship is not a supportive service. It is one of the most extreme legal actions that can be taken against a person when many, less restrictive options exist. Once imposed, a Veteran can lose the right to make decisions about their own body, their own money, and where and how they live — making it nearly impossible to restore those rights.
NCIL considers guardianship to be a form of institutionalization; depriving individuals of essential freedoms, denying individual choice and personal expression, and making self-determination and self-direction impossible.
Read NCIL’s position statement: https://bit.ly/4unHNPg
NCIL does support less restrictive alternatives to guardianship such as supported decision-making and power of attorney. Both alternatives formalize the supports Veterans may need while ensuring that they are still able to remain in control and to direct decisions about their life. A critical distinction from guardianship — supported decision-making and power of attorney leave the power to revoke these supports in the hands of the Veteran.
Disabled Veterans do not need their rights taken away. They need services, including housing, peer support, medical care. They need services that help them build the life they want while preserving dignity and independence.
As a disability-led national organization, NCIL will continue to call out and fight policies that threaten the autonomy and civil rights of disabled people, including Veterans.
Veterans fought for our freedoms. They should not have to fight their own government to keep them.
