HCR121

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	121
TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting the house and senate committees on human services to conduct a joint study of the department of human services' reunification and kinship placement policies and procedures

WHEREAS, infants and children removed from their parents because of abuse or neglect deserve the diligent care and protection of the State; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Human Services has reported a number of cases of repeated abuse directed to harmed children reunified with the parent who perpetrated the harm; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Foster Parent Association has reported a number of instances in which infants and children have been harmed further because of inappropriate placement with kin; and

WHEREAS, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and other Hawaiian advocacy groups have expressed concerns about the over-representation of Native Hawaiian children in the child welfare service population and the lack of appropriate family and kin placement for these children; and

WHEREAS, social workers, guardians ad litem, child psychologists, public health nurses, pediatricians, child advocates, and judges have not had the opportunity to describe to the State the impact that the Department of Human Services' current reunification and kinship placement policies have on children; and

WHEREAS, the research literature on reunification and kinship placement, although limited in general applicability to Hawaii, suggests a number of safety issues relating to these policies; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the House and Senate Committees on Human Services are requested to conduct a joint study of the impact that the Department of Human Services' current reunification and kinship placement policies and procedures have on harmed infants and children; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, as part of their joint study, the House and Senate Committees on Human Services are requested to solicit testimony from social workers, guardians ad litem, child psychologists, public health nurses, pediatricians, child advocates, and judges regarding the impact of the Department of Human Services' reunification and kinship placement policies on harmed infants and children; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, as part of their joint study, the House and Senate Committees on Human Services are requested to solicit the testimony of the Director of Human Services, the Director of Health, and of representatives from the following: the Hawaii Foster Parents Association; the Volunteer Guardian Ad Litem Program; the Hawaii Family Forum; Legal Aid Society of Hawaii; the National Association of Social Workers, Hawaii Chapter; Hawaii Behavioral Health; the Sex Abuse Treatment Center; and other organizations serving the child welfare population; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Human Services is requested to provide the following summarized data, or an explanation of why the requested data is unavailable, for fiscal years 2005 and 2006:

(1) An unduplicated count of the children entering the child welfare services population for the first time, classified by gender, ethnicity, and type of harm suffered, e.g., neglect, harm, physical abuse, sexual abuse, or drug exposure;

(2) The number of cases closed in the fiscal year, classified by the number of days the case was active and the type of closing, e.g., adoption by kin or non-kin, guardianship by kin or non-kin, long-term foster placement, or reunification with parents;

(3) An unduplicated count of the number of children re-entering the child welfare services population subsequent to a case closing, classified by gender, ethnicity, and type of harm, with a description of the type of closing and of the type of harm that prompted the child's re-entry into the child welfare system;

(4) The number of subsequent placements, classified by gender, age, ethnicity, and type of placement, for all children re-entering the child welfare system subsequent to a case closing, except children reunified with parents;

(5) The number of monitoring visits made by social workers for each month the case was active for all children in the child welfare system population;

(6) The number of supervised parental visits made during each month the case was active for all children in the child welfare system population;

(7) For all children in the child welfare system population, the number of placements that have been subject to an administrative review and the results of the reviews;

(8) For current active cases, the total number of children involved, as they are identified in court documents, the number of caseworkers serving these children, and copies of any grievances, complaints, or recommendations regarding active cases that have been received by the Department of Human Services from any source, with any personal identifying information redacted; and

(9) Complete copies of all research relating to reunification and kinship placement that the Department of Human Services administrators personally have reviewed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Committees are requested to report their findings to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Human Services, the Governor, and the Director of Human Services.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Study of DHS's Reunification and Kinship Policies, Procedures, and Outcomes