STAND. COM. REP. NO.1578

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.C.R. No. 85

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Ways and Means, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 85, H.D. 1, entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING A PROGRAM AUDIT AND INVESTIGATION OF THE VARIOUS AGENCIES INVOLVED IN THE CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES SYSTEM,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is:

(1) To request the Auditor to conduct a program audit of the various agencies involved in the child protective services system; and

(2) To request the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission to investigate certain alleged violations of state and federal laws and regulations by child protective services.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Representatives from the 44th and 45th Representative Districts, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Blueprint for Change, and six concerned citizens. The Department of Human Services and the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission expressed concerns about this measure. The Judiciary submitted testimony declining to participate in the audit.

Your Committees find that the child protective services system is an area of great concern. The intent of the Legislature is to ensure the safety and welfare of all of Hawaii's children. However, there have been anecdotal reports that child protective services social workers have violated individual civil rights and have acted in ways that appear to be inconsistent with this goal. At the same time, there are cases where social workers apparently did not act in a timely and effective manner to protect a child in an allegedly abusive situation.

The Department of Human Services testified that it has just completed a follow-up audit to the 1999 legislative audit of the child protective services system and is currently preparing for a federal Child and Family Services Review scheduled for July 2003. Your Committees understand that the federal audit will be an in-depth study of Hawaii's child welfare services, but will be limited in scope, focusing on Oahu and one neighbor island. In order to identify problem areas and issues of concern statewide, your Committees believe that a program audit of the child protective services system should be conducted at this time, focusing on the entire state.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Adding language that expresses the intent of the legislature to ensure the safety and welfare of all of Hawaii's children;

(2) Adding language describing both the reported problems and the reported ineffectiveness of the child protective services system;

(3) Clarifying that the program audit to be conducted by the Auditor should be statewide in scope;

(4) Requesting the Auditor, with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, to review existing state and federal statutes that may exacerbate perceived problems with the existing child protective services system, and to investigate alleged repeated violations of state and federal laws and regulations by Child Protective Services;

(5) Requiring the Auditor to submit a report on the findings of its review of existing state and federal statutes and the violations allegedly committed by Child Protective Services, including recommendations and proposed legislation, if any, to the legislature;

(6) Adding the Director of the Office for Civil Rights under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to the distribution list for certified copies of the measure; and

(7) Making other technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and style.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 85, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 85, H.D. 1, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Ways and Means,

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair