Three decades ago, New York lawmakers passed progressive legislation to reform the guardianship system, which cares for some of the state’s most vulnerable residents — people that, for a variety of reasons, the courts have deemed incapable of caring for themselves.

But today the system is in shambles, leaving thousands of New Yorkers voiceless and forgotten, and giving rise to a cottage industry of nonprofits that take advantage of the wards they’re supposed to protect, according to a new ProPublica investigation. Reporter Jake Pearson chronicles how one woman endured a decade of neglect, living in a deteriorating Queens home with a collapsed roof, rat and bedbug infestations, and chronic heating and hot water outages.

Join us on Instagram Live on March 13 at 4 p.m. ET for an inside look at the investigation with Pearson and his editor Michael Mishak. A recording will be uploaded to our YouTube channel.

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