STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2633

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 2847
                                        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.
2847, S.D. 1, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PROSPECTIVE ADOPTIVE
     PARENTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill, as received by your Committee, is
to require the Department of Human Services to obtain national
and local criminal history record information on any prospective
adoptive parents.

     Your Committee finds that current state law does not require
checks into the criminal history of applicants for adoption.
Your Committee further finds that the federal government, by
enacting the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, requires
states to conduct criminal history checks for prospective
adoptive parents.  Accordingly, the State must enact criminal
history record check legislation in order to continue to receive
substantial federal funding.

     Testimony in support of the intent of this measure was
submitted by the Judiciary, the Department of the Attorney
General and the Department of Human Services.  Testimony in
opposition to this measure was submitted by an attorney
specializing in private adoptions.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure by amending chapter 346, Hawaii Revised Statutes, rather

 
a                                                     
                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2633
                                   Page 2


than chapter 578, to require criminal history checks for
prospective adoptive parents who are clients of the Department of
Human Services.

     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.
2847, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass
Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2847, 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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