STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2911

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2276

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2276 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILD WELFARE SERVICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for the Department of Human Services to establish and staff a five-year pilot program in east Hawaii county that limits the number of children per child welfare services caseworker to no more than twenty.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Human Services; the Mayor's Office for the County of Hawaii; two members of the Hawaii County Council; Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, County of Hawaii; Catholic Charities Hawaii; East Hawaii Friends of Foster Families; Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice; Hawaii Children's Action Network; Hawaii Family Forum; Winners' Camp Foundation; and forty-three individuals.

Your Committee received written comments on the measure from the Friends of the Children's Justice Center of East Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that the heavy caseloads of child welfare social workers in east Hawaii county increase the potential for harm to children at risk for neglect or abuse. Your Committee further finds that a pilot project demonstrating the positive impact of adequate staffing levels on the safety and well-being of at-risk children in east Hawaii county is in the public interest.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

(2) Making technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2276, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2276, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair