STAND. COM. REP. NO. 889-24

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2024

RE: H.B. No. 2555

H.D. 2

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2555, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE CHILD PROTECTIVE ACT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to amend the Child Protective Act by:

(1) Amending the definition of "harm" to include when a parent has committed family violence; and

(2) Requiring a service plan to include an evaluation or assessment of family members in the family home who are perpetrators of domestic violence by a service provider trained in domestic violence in cases of alleged or confirmed domestic violence.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from five individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services and Hawaii Coalition for Child Protective Reform.

Your Committee finds that the purpose of the Child Protective Act is to make paramount the safety and health of children who have been harmed or are in life circumstances that threaten harm. This measure will clarify, under the Child Protective Act, one of the ways a child's psychological well-being has been injured.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

Your Committee notes that concerns were raised in written testimony that the amendments made to the definition of "harm" under the Child Protective Act, as proposed under this measure, creates inconsistency with the definition of "child abuse or neglect" under Hawaii's child abuse reporting laws. Your Committee believes this concern warrants further deliberation.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2555, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2555, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair