HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

118

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE director of human SERVICES TO identify and describe existing protections for parental and family rights in all Child Welfare Services branch activities and proceedings.

 

 

WHEREAS, families have a fundamental right to privacy and freedom from unreasonable and unwarranted government intervention and interference; and

WHEREAS, parents have a fundamental right to the custody, care, and control of their children; and

WHEREAS, these foundational parental and family rights must be protected, but are at times outweighed by the interest in protecting a child from physical and psychological abuse; and

WHEREAS, whenever government interferes with parental and family rights to protect the child, adequate recognition and representation of parental and family rights must be provided to ensure that the intervention is justified, and to avoid the serious, negative, effects of unreasonable or unwarranted separation on the child and on the entire family; and

WHEREAS, although there are over three million reports of alleged child abuse and neglect each year in the U.S., two thirds, or 2,000,000 of these reports are found to be without foundation; and

WHEREAS, Child Welfare Services (CWS) investigates reports of child abuse and collects evidence supporting and opposing the allegation, and may then decide to develop a plan for temporary or permanent state intervention in the parent-child relationship; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii’s CWS workers are overworked, inadequately supported, and bear much of the blame if a child served by CWS is not removed from parental custody and is subsequently harmed by their parents; and

WHEREAS, this provides incentives for CWS workers to err on the side of caution, and to be biased toward the collection of evidence and development of plans used to separate children from their parents where there is any doubt; and

WHEREAS, parents whose children are removed by CWS are effectively guilty until proved innocent, and to protect their parental and family rights must fight an uphill battle against a monolithic, government-funded agency; and

WHEREAS, parents of children who have separated from their families by CWS have stated that CWS decisions have not been supported by substantial evidence, and that better protections are needed for the rights of parents and families in CWS proceedings; and

WHEREAS, it is unclear whether there is a need to better implement existing protections of parental and family rights, or to amend the law to provide additional protections; now, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the

Twenty Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, that the Director of Human Services is requested to identify and describe existing protections for the rights of parents and families in all CWS activities and proceedings, and provide a report to the Legislature no later than ten days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2003; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Human Services.

 
 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

FAMILY RIGHTS IN CHILD WELFARE SERVICES PROCEEDINGS