STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1452

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: H.C.R. No. 179
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Human Services and Housing, to which was
referred H.C.R. No. 179 entitled: 

     "HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING THE HAWAII APPLESEED
     PUBLIC INTEREST LAW CENTER (HAWAII APPLESEED) TO CONTINUE
     ITS WORK ON A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF HAWAII STATUTES
     RELATING TO CHILD PROTECTION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this concurrent resolution is to protect
children from abuse and neglect by urging the Hawaii Appleseed
Public Interest Law Center (Hawaii Appleseed) to continue its
work on a comprehensive review of Hawaii statutes relating to
child protection.

     The Department of Human Services and Hawaii Appleseed
testified in support of this measure.  The Hawaii State Foster
Parents Association testified in support of the intent of this
measure.

     Hawaii Appleseed has been a participant in the Child
Protection Legislative Roundtable (Roundtable) over the past year
and has already taken steps towards comprehensive statutory
revisions to create a cohesive framework to effectively address
and remedy child abuse concerns.  Your Committee finds that
informed discussion on the ramifications of proposed legislation
prior to its introduction would result in sound public policy.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1452
                                 Page 2

 
     (1)  Referring to the "Child Protection Legislative
          Roundtable" instead of the "Child Protective Services
          (CPS) Roundtable" because CPS refers to specific child
          protection services pursuant to Chapter 587, Hawaii
          Revised Statutes (HRS), and the Roundtable's agenda
          goes beyond the scope of Chapter 587, HRS;

     (2)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment to the
          title, so it now reads "URGING THE HAWAII APPLESEED
          PUBLIC INTEREST LAW CENTER TO CONTINUE ITS WORK ON A
          COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF HAWAII STATUTES RELATING TO
          CHILD PROTECTION";

     (3)  Requesting Hawaii Appleseed to consider modifications
          to chapter 587, HRS, and related statutory provisions
          in chapters 346, 350, 350B, 350C, 350E, and 578, HRS,
          to improve the State's child protection system and
          better reflect the spirit of recent federal enactments
          such as the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 and
          the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act Amendments
          of 1996; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity
          and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Human Services and Housing that is attached to this
report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of
H.C.R. No. 179, as amended herein, and recommends that it be
referred to the Committee on Finance, in the form attached hereto
as H.C.R. No. 179, H.D. 1.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Human Services
                                   and Housing,



                                   ______________________________
                                   DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair