HCR20

WHEREAS, in the 2006 Regular Session, the Senate and the House of Representatives adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 52, S.D. 1, authorizing the Committees on Human Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives to convene interim hearings on the use of legal interventions available to the Family Court; and

WHEREAS, during the course of the interim hearings, four committees were formed relating to Family Court Models, Family Court Sunshine and Accountability, Temporary Restraining Orders, and the Best Interests of the Child; and

WHEREAS, after hours of hard work and meetings, the Family Court Models Committee submitted its findings and recommendations to the Committees on Human Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives, which adopted its recommendation regarding the need to further study certain outstanding issues related to its proposed Family Court Parenting Plan Model; and

WHEREAS, the Family Court Models Committee found that:

(1) A process, known as the Family Court Parenting Plan Model, should exist to assist parents to develop a parenting plan without and prior to family court intervention;

(2) Child custody matters involving domestic violence should be exempt from the process and should be screened out at any time in addition to an initial screening before participation in the process;

(3) After the initial screening for domestic violence, parents should participate in an expanded version of Kids First that includes:

(A) Education about parenting after divorce;

(B) Parenting roles within one home and across homes;

(D) An opportunity for children to provide their activities schedules;

(E) An introduction to the concept of a parenting plan; and

(F) An overview of divorce and paternity procedures;

(4) If the parents are unable to develop a parenting plan after participation in the expanded version of Kids First, the parents should meet with a Trained Parenting Plan Facilitator for a series of facilitations, if necessary, to assist with their development of a parenting plan;

(5) The Trained Parenting Plan Facilitator should be able to make confidential recommendations for services to either parent at any time in the process;

(6) The process should be confidential, non-adversarial, without the presence of attorneys, and the parents should have the same Trained Parenting Plan Facilitator throughout the process;

(7) If after participating in the process the parents still cannot develop a parenting plan, they should proceed to family court with any agreed upon issues standing and for resolution of the outstanding issues; and

(8) The parents should have the same judge throughout the child custody proceedings; and

WHEREAS, the Family Court Models Committee also identified the following issues during the formulation of its Family Court Parenting Plan Model that require further consideration:

(1) There is a need to assess the level of children's involvement in the process, including the possibility of expanding services to meet children's needs in regard to the impact of a child custody dispute;

(2) There is a need to research and recommend best practices in the development of a parenting plan; and

(3) There is a need to research and recommend best practices in the training and qualifications of the trained parenting plan facilitator, including training on the issues facing both the petitioner and the respondent; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that the Committees on Human Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives are requested to convene one or more task forces during the interim to further study and make recommendations regarding the issues identified by the Family Court Models Committee; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each task force should include one representative of the Judiciary, the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii, the legal community, a children's advocacy organization, a social work organization, a domestic violence organization, an organization representing the interests of petitioners, and an organization representing the interests of respondents; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to submit a report, including any proposed legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2008; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chair of the Senate Committee on Human Services, the Chair of the House Committee on Human Services, the Chief Justice, and the Executive Director of the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Family Court; Task Force

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	20
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII