Franciscan Health’s VASIA Director LaVonne Jarrett honored by state courts

Franciscan Health’s VASIA Director LaVonne Jarrett, right, recently received the WINGS Star of the Year Award from the Indiana Adult Guardianship Office of the Indiana Office of Court Services. Jarrett is pictured with VASIA Volunteer Coordinator Francisca Mendoza, left.

Franciscan Health Volunteer Advocates for Seniors and Incapacitated Adults (VASIA) Director LaVonne Jarrett was recently honored by the Indiana Adult Guardianship Office of the Indiana Office of Court Services with the WINGS Star of the Year award.

The Working Interdisciplinary Network of Guardianship Stakeholders (WINGS) Star of the Year Award is presented annually to a champion who goes above and beyond to help build a better guardianship system for stakeholders.

WINGS is a state interdisciplinary guardianship network of stakeholders. Jarrett was nominated and selected by her peers from across Indiana for this year’s honor.

“I am both humbled and honored to receive such a prestigious award amongst some of the greatest advocates for the underserved that I know,” Jarrett said. “Guardianship and advocacy can be a thankless profession, but I get fulfillment when our communities come together throughout the state.”

Jarrett began her career with Franciscan in 2006 as a volunteer coordinator for the VAS (Volunteer Advocates for Seniors) program, following 10 years of working with adults with disabilities for the state of Indiana and The Arc.

The VASIA program is a collaboration between the courts and Franciscan Health to provide trained, supervised volunteers to serve as court-appointed agents to assist elderly and incapacitated adults. VASIA, now in its 25th year, partners with programs serving elderly and incapacitated adults across Lake County to develop a continuum of elder law advocacy and guardianship services.

Volunteers are vetted through an application screening process. Once approved, volunteers must complete 30 hours of initial training and 12 hours of continuing education annually by legal, social service, health and mental health experts. Advocates serve as agents of the program, one case at a time.

The VASIA program under Franciscan Health has served more than 500 at-risk adults and trained more than 500 volunteers since its transition to VASIA, with the inclusion of incapacitated adults, in 2014.

The VASIA program is partially funded by grants from the Indiana Supreme Court, Legacy Foundation, Inc. and other local, state and national funders as well as individual donors to the Franciscan Health Foundation.

To donate to support VASIA’s efforts, go to FranciscanHealthFoundation.org or call (219) 661-3401. To learn more about the program and how to become a volunteer, visit www.franciscanhealth.org/VASIA.