179
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
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                     HOUSE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  URGING THE HAWAII APPLESEED PUBLIC INTEREST LAW CENTER (HAWAII
    APPLESEED) TO CONTINUE ITS WORK ON A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW
    OF HAWAII STATUTES RELATING TO CHILD PROTECTION. 


 1        WHEREAS, the Child Protective Services Roundtable
 2   recommended statutory revisions to strengthen child protection,
 3   which were enacted in the 1998 Session; and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, the Senate Committee on Judiciary in the 1999
 6   Session passed to third reading S.B. No. 176, which creates a
 7   criminal offense for child abuse in the first and second
 8   degrees; and
 9   
10        WHEREAS, the Auditor conducted an audit of the child
11   protective services system and recommended in Report No. 99-5
12   certain statutory amendments to further strengthen child
13   protection; and
14   
15        WHEREAS, the Child Protective Services Roundtable believes
16   that further statutory amendments are necessary to modify and
17   integrate the following chapters in the Hawaii Revised
18   Statutes:
19   
20        (1)  Chapter 346, relating to the Department of Human
21             Services;
22   
23        (2)  Chapter 350, relating to child abuse;
24   
25        (3)  Chapter 350B, relating to the children's trust fund;
26   
27        (4)  Chapter 350C, relating to the adoption assistance
28             compact;
29   
30        (5)  Chapter 350E, relating to the interstate compact on
31             placement of children;
32   
33        (6)  Chapter 578, relating to adoption; and
34   
35        (7)  Chapter 587, relating to the Child Protective Act;

 
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                                  H.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        


 1   
 2   and
 3   
 4        WHEREAS, a piecemeal approach to revising laws may not be
 5   the most efficient nor effective means of developing an overall
 6   cohesive framework in which to effectively address and remedy
 7   child abuse problems; and
 8   
 9        WHEREAS, the issues surrounding a comprehensive statutory
10   revision may be too complex for one agency, one department, or
11   one branch of government to handle; and
12   
13        WHEREAS, the Hawaii Appleseed provides the kind of
14   assistance necessary in reviewing, analyzing, and making
15   recommendations for statutory revisions relating to child
16   protection laws, and has already begun to do so; now,
17   therefore,
18   
19        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
20   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
21   of 1999, the Senate concurring, that Hawaii Appleseed is:
22   
23        (1)  Urged to continue its comprehensive review of Hawaii
24             statutes relating to child protection; and
25   
26        (2)  Requested to facilitate discussions among all
27             interested parties in the process of its review;
28   
29   and
30   
31        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all interested parties are
32   strongly encouraged to cooperate with Hawaii Appleseed in the
33   spirit of identifying ways in which the State's system of child
34   protection, and the laws providing a framework for that system,
35   can be improved with the goal of reaching consensus on the
36   difficult policy issues involved, and, where consensus is not
37   possible, to identify the competing viewpoints and related
38   proposals, so that the Legislature can be fully informed and
39   advised about the full range of policy options concerning child
40   protection; and
41   
42        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Hawaii Appleseed report its

 
 
 
 
 
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                                  H.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        


 1   findings and recommendations to the Child Protective Services
 2   Roundtable for consideration of proposed legislation for the
 3   2000 Session; and
 4   
 5        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
 6   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Administrative
 7   Director of the Courts, Hawaii Appleseed, Child Protective
 8   Services Round Table, Director of Human Services, State
 9   Attorney General, Director of Health, Prosecuting Attorney in
10   each County, and the Public Defender.
11 
12 
13 
14                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________