STAND. COM. REP. NO.138-02
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2002
RE: H.B. No. 2099
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2002
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Human Services and Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 2099 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILD PROTECTION,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to establish guidelines for the court when the court orders access to information related to cases involving a missing child.
More specifically, this bill establishes two rebuttable presumptions:
(1) That concerns about the whereabouts and well-being of the missing child outweigh concerns, raised on behalf of other family members, as to the confidentiality of information; and
(2) That concerns as to the whereabouts and well-being of the missing child outweigh concerns of the potentially harmful effect that access may have to the missing child's family members, including a sibling who is a minor and who may be the subject of a protection case that is interrelated with the missing child's case.
Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii, the Honolulu Police Department, and a concerned citizen. The Department of Human Services supported the intent of this bill.
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 is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2099 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services and Housing,
|
____________________________ MICHAEL P. KAHIKINA, Chair |
||