STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2754

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 2442
                                        S.D. 2




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No.
2442, S.D. 1, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CAREGIVERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill, as received by your Committee, is
to allow a caregiver of a child to give consent by executing a
prescribed affidavit so that a child may be enrolled in school
and receive school-related medical services.

     Your Committee finds that there are an increasing number of
grandparents and other relatives raising children on behalf of
absent parents without having legal custody or guardianship over
these children.  In Hawaii, a child often resides, at least
temporarily, with a grandparent who assumes the responsibility of
primary caregiver.  Your Committee further finds that because
these grandparents and relatives lack legal standing to act on
behalf of the absent parent, these primary caregivers often lack
the authority to enroll the child in school and to authorize
school-related medical care.

     Your Committee recognizes that an affidavit procedure is
preferable to formal court proceedings that confer to the primary
caregiver legal custody of the child.  Court proceedings are
often burdensome, expensive, and time consuming, and detract from
the immediate attention that the child needs to enroll in school
and receive school-related medical care such as dental care,
immunizations, physical examinations, and medical examinations.

 
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Furthermore, the caregiver may not wish to have legal custody of
the child, but is willing nontheless to provide care for the
child.

     Your Committee notes concerns raised by the Department of
Education (DOE) regarding potential legal problems the bill may
create for the DOE under section 602 of the 1997 Reauthorization
of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.  However,
your Committee finds these arguments unpersuasive, as nine other
states have enacted similar educational and medical consent laws.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the
Department of Health, Na Tutu Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Coalition, Windward Oahu Family and Community Education,
Generations United, and eight concerned grandparents.  Testimony
in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Department of
Education.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying that once a primary caregiver possesses a
          notarized affidavit of consent, the primary caregiver
          must present a copy upon request to the school, the
          health care provider, or the health care services plan;

     (2)  Adding a provision that the primary caregiver provide a
          statement attesting to the fact that the primary
          caregiver made reasonable efforts to locate the absent
          parent, guardian, or legal custodian and failed;

     (3)  Providing that the affidavit of consent must be renewed
          and updated annually;

     (4)  Providing that the affidavit of consent is immediately
          revoked if the minor no longer resides with the primary
          caregiver;

     (5)  Requiring the Department of Education to review its
          policies regarding admission of students and amend them
          to recognize hanai or kinship relationships for the
          purposes of enrollment and school-based medical care
          and to submit a report to the legislature; 

     (6)  Deleting the affidavit form to allow for the required
          essential information to be more easily and readily
          provided by the caregivers; and


 
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     (7)  Making technical, non-substantive changes for the
          purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No.
2442, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass
Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2442, S.D.
2.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary,



                                   ______________________________
                                   AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
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