STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3606

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 2277

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 2277, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILD WELFARE SERVICES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a five-year pilot project within the Department of Human Services to ensure the safety and well-being of at-risk children and families in east Hawaii on Hawaii island.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Judiciary; Department of Human Services; Office of the Mayor, County of Hawaii; two members of the Hawaii County Council; Catholic Charities Hawaii; East Hawaii Friends of Foster Families; Family Programs Hawaii; Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice; Hawaii Children's Action Network; Hawaii Family Forum; Hawaii Government Employees Association; National Federation of the Blind of Hawaii; Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawaii; Winners' Camp Foundation; and numerous individuals.

 

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from Friends of the Children's Justice Center of East Hawaii.

 

     Your Committee finds that this measure will assist the east Hawaii Child Welfare Services Section of the Department of Human Services on Hawaii island with the unique challenges it faces in protecting vulnerable children who have been abused or neglected or who are at high risk for abuse or neglect.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting the addition of fifteen support staff positions and the corresponding appropriation from the measure;

 

     (2)  Clarifying that the practice of limiting the number of children supervised by each east Hawaii Child Welfare Services Section social worker to twenty or fewer shall commence no later than six months after the commencement of the pilot project;

 

     (3)  Requiring the Department of Human Services to submit additional reports to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to each of the Regular Sessions of 2024 and 2025;

 

     (4)  Inserting an additional appropriation of an unspecified sum to the Judiciary for the costs of appointing additional guardians ad litem for minors and court-appointed legal counsel for parents of minors in child welfare cases in the Third Circuit;

 

     (5)  Changing the appropriation for the pilot project from $2,633,231 to an unspecified amount to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

 

     (6)  Making technical nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     Your Committee notes that the Judiciary anticipates the need for $185,760 to cover the costs of appointing guardians ad litem and court-appointed legal counsel in child welfare cases in the next budget period.  Your Committee recognizes that child welfare cases normally continue for three to four years, and that with each year that passes, the Judiciary will need additional funding to pay for guardians ad litem and court-appointed legal counsel assigned in those cases.

 

     Your Committee also notes the observation of East Hawaii Friends of Foster Families, that, as the measure is amended, the Department of Human Services would need only $660,000 for staffing and $250,000 for administrative costs, or a total of $910,000 for the implementation of the pilot project.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2277, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2277, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.

 

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

 

________________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair