HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

16

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE COMMITTEES ON HUMAN SERVICES OF THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO CONVENE A TASK FORCE during the interim TO further STUDY AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING family court custody evaluator ISSUES.

 

 


     WHEREAS, in the 2006 Regular Session, the Senate and the House of Representatives adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 52, S.D. 1, authorizing the Committees on Human Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives to convene interim hearings on the use of legal interventions available to the Family Court; and

 

     WHEREAS, during the course of the interim hearings, four committees were formed relating to Family Court Models, Family Court Sunshine and Accountability, Temporary Restraining Orders, and the Best Interests of the Child; and

 

     WHEREAS, after hours of hard work and meetings, the Family Court Sunshine and Accountability Committee submitted its findings and recommendations to the Committees on Human Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives, which adopted its recommendation regarding the need to further study certain outstanding issues related to family court custody evaluators; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Family Court Sunshine and Accountability Committee found that:

 

     (1)  The education, training, and experience standards for family court custody evaluators should be further explored and discussed; and

    

     (2)  Court-appointed custody evaluator models found in other jurisdictions, such as California, should be further explored and discussed before making a determination if any model explored would be appropriate for implementation in the Hawaii family courts; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that the Committees on Human Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives are requested to convene a task force during the interim to further study and make recommendations regarding the issues identified by the Family Court Sunshine and Accountability Committee regarding family court custody evaluators; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force should include one representative of the Judiciary, the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii, the legal community, a children's advocacy organization, a social work organization, a domestic violence organization, an organization representing the interests of petitioners, and an organization representing the interests of respondents; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to submit a report, including any proposed legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2008; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chair of the Senate Committee on Human Services, the Chair of the House Committee on Human Services, the Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court, and the Executive Director of the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Family Court; Custody evaluators