Report Title:
Domestic Violence
Description:
Establishes a domestic violence response team and procedures to provide prompt and appropriate treatment and services to children who have psychological, emotional, and behavioral problems as a result of witnessing domestic violence in their homes.
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
777 |
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TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to domestic violence.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the child of a battered woman is often a secondary victim of domestic abuse, injured psychologically and emotionally by witnessing the violence that repeatedly occurs in the child's home. The legislature further finds that many of these children do not receive appropriate treatment for their injuries. A recent attorney general study of twenty-five battered mothers and their twenty-five children in this state found that half of the mothers and children were diagnosed as suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. But where ninety-two per cent of the mothers sought psychological services for themselves, less than one-third sought similar care for their children. The legislature finds that left untreated, the psychological injuries suffered by these children will have a negative affect on their performance at school, and on their later ability to become productive citizens of this state.
The purpose of this Act is to provide prompt and appropriate treatment and services to children who suffer from psychological, emotional, and behavioral problems caused by exposure to domestic violence.
SECTION 2. Chapter 321, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§321- Domestic violence response team; procedures. The department shall identify, and provide prompt and appropriate treatment and services to, children with psychological, emotional, or behavioral problems caused by exposure to domestic violence. The department shall:
(1) Assemble a domestic violence response team consisting of psychologists, social workers, and other trained mental health professionals that is designed to address the specialized treatment needs of children diagnosed as having psychological, emotional, and behavioral problems caused by exposure to domestic violence;
(2) Develop and implement a protocol and procedure for identifying and providing treatment at the earliest time possible to children in need of treatment by the domestic violence response team. The procedures shall:
(A) At a minimum, screen for acute stress disorder;
(B) Rely in part on the observations of trained law enforcement personnel who respond to reports of domestic violence;
(C) Include systematic training allowing law enforcement personnel to identify children in need of treatment;
(D) Provide for domestic violence response team screening of children at the earliest time possible, either:
(i) At or near the time of police intervention in a domestic violence case; or
(ii) At or near the time that a temporary restraining order in a domestic violence case is initiated;
and
(E) Include counseling or other means of informing mothers of the need for, and benefits of appropriate psychological assessment and treatment for their children."
SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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