STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2271

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 3055

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Human Services and Public Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 3055 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MANDATORY REPORTING OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to require family members to report child abuse and neglect.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Human Services, State Public Defender, and one individual.

     This measure requires any person who is a member of a family and who has reached the age of majority to report child abuse if they have knowledge that abuse is occurring or the child has been harmed due to abuse and neglect.  Your Committee finds that in many instances, the family is the first to know of a case of child abuse.  Requiring reporting of child abuse by such family members allows the police or the Department of Human Services to respond more expeditiously to the case and possibly save a life.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to continue discussions on this matter; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services and Public Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3055, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3055, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services and Public Housing,

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair