STAND. COM. REP. NO. 226-18

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2018

RE: H.B. No. 2527

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health & Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 2527 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FOSTER CARE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure, as received by your Committee, is to provide greater rights for children in foster care. Specifically, this measure replaces the guiding principles for children in foster care under the Child Protective Act with the rights of children in foster care, which preserves the current rights of children in foster care and provides certain additional rights.

For the purposes of a public hearing on this bill, your Committee circulated H.B. No. 2527, H.D. 1 PROPOSED (Proposed Draft), and notified the public that it would be accepting testimony on the Proposed Draft, which is a substantially similar measure. In addition to replacing the guiding principles for children in foster care with the rights of children in foster care, the Proposed Draft also makes technical, nonsubstantive amendments to the original H.B. No. 2527.

The Judiciary, Department of the Attorney General, Department of Human Services, Department of Education, Hawaii Youth Services Network, Catholic Charities Hawai‘i, EPIC Ohana, and one individual testified in support of the Proposed Draft.

Your Committee considered the merits of both H.B. No. 2527, as received by your Committee, and the Proposed Draft and, upon careful consideration, adopted the Proposed Draft. Your Committee further amended the Proposed Draft by:

(1) Requiring the Department of Human Services or authorized agency to obtain certain personal records for a child in foster care if the child is 17 years old, including the child's medical records or information to access the child's medical records free of charge and immigration documents;

(2) Changing its effective date to July 1, 3000, to facilitate further discussion; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health & Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2527, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2527, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health & Human Services,

____________________________

JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair