STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2451

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2160

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2160 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FAILURE TO REPORT A MISSING CHILD,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to protect children by establishing that it is a class C felony for a caregiver to fail to report the death or disappearance of a child to law enforcement or to provide false information to law enforcement authorities about a missing child.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the National Association of Social Workers, Hawai‘i Chapter; Maui Family Support Services; and Ho‘oikaika Partnership.

     Your Committee finds that according to the United States Department of Justice, over a period of one year approximately 797,500 children under eighteen were reported missing.  Your Committee further finds that because outcomes for missing children are usually negative, there is a need for caregivers to promptly report missing children.  Furthermore, contacting authorities after the death of a child can lead to the immediate investigation of the circumstances of the child's death, which may prevent injury to other children associated with the deceased child.  This measure therefore protects the rights of children and encourages the immediate response of a caregiver regarding reporting the disappearance or death of a child.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting savings and severability clauses and making other technical amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2160, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2160, 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,

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair