STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 149-22
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2022
RE: H.B. No. 2424
H.D. 1
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2022
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Health, Human Services, & Homelessness, to which was referred H.B. No. 2424 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILD WELFARE SERVICES,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The
purpose of this measure is to:
(1) Expand the investigative power of the Department
of Human Services to include children who have been adopted or placed in legal
guardianship and whose families are receiving financial assistance through the
State;
(2) Expand the investigative power of the Department
of Human Services to include children in the foster care system for whom there
is a pending petition for adoption and the child is pendente lite or for whom
an adoption decree has been issued but the child has not yet been placed in the
custody of the adoption petitioner;
(3) Establish and appropriate funds to create a
crisis mobile outreach team pilot program to provide additional support and
expansion of services for existing crisis response services;
(4) Appropriate funds for additional case workers
and support staff; and
(5) Appropriate funds to increase compensation for existing child welfare services case worker positions.
Your Committee finds
that additional measures are needed to strengthen the network of state systems that
protect and ensure the safety and security for at-risk children who are under
the protection and legal jurisdiction of the State and have been placed with an
adoptive family or are under legal guardianship. Your Committee further finds that oversight
of adoptive families and legal guardians who receive adoption assistance or
permanency payments is currently limited to biannual forms where the beneficiary
indicates whether the beneficiary still qualifies for and desire to receive
assistance payments. This measure will provide
additional safeguards for at-risk children by expanding the investigative
authority of the Department of Human Services to include families where a child
has been adopted or placed into legal guardianship.
Your
Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Deleting a portion of the preamble to narrow
the scope of the legislative intent;
(2) Limiting the review or investigation of
adoptive families and legal guardians to families where a complaint has been lodged
with the Department of Human Services at any time, including any time prior to
adoption or awarding of legal guardianship;
(3) Deleting the crisis mobile outreach team pilot
program and associated appropriation;
(4) Changing the effective date to July 1,
2060, to encourage further discussion; and
(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health, Human Services, & Homelessness that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2424, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2424, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health, Human Services, & Homelessness,
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____________________________ RYAN I. YAMANE, Chair |
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