HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
THE TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION OF 2018
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Rep. John M. Mizuno, Chair |
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Rep. Bertrand Kobayashi, Vice Chair |
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Rep. Della Au Belatti |
Rep. Andria P.L. Tupola |
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Rep. Lei R. Learmont |
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Senator Josh Green, Chair |
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Senator Stanley Chang, Vice Chair |
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Sen. Breene Harimoto |
Sen. Glenn Wakai |
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Sen. Jill N. Tokuda |
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NOTICE OF INFORMATIONAL BRIEFING
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DATE: |
Friday, April 6, 2018 |
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TIME: |
10:00 a.m. |
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PLACE: |
Conference Room 329 State Capitol 415 South Beretania Street |
A G E N D A
The State Department of Human Service’s Mission is to provide timely, efficient and effective programs, services and benefits for achieving the outcome of empowering Hawaii’s most vulnerable people; and to expand their capacity for self-sufficiency, self-determination, independence, healthy choices, quality of life, and personal dignity.
Under the Department, Child Welfare Services programs include family strengthening and support, child protection, foster care, adoption, independent living and licensing of resource family homes, group homes and child-placing organizations. Services are available on Oahu, Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, Molokai and Lanai, with 36 units/sub-units and a staff of over 500.
Due to the great recession in 2008, hundreds of positions throughout the State Departments were either cut or never filled upon retirement of State employees. For the Child Welfare Services branch, they have approximately 52 vacancies, many which directly relate to intake, review, investigations, and determinations of child abuse reports. Today the branch has a backlog of approximately 326 cases of alleged child abuse or neglect. The failure to timely investigate such cases could be fatal to the abused and would lead to sanctions by the courts for failure to investigate a child abuse case.
The purpose of this Briefing will be to allow the Child Welfare Services branch, its’ employees, their Union, and some of the advocates for the children and families to present recommendations to the Legislature to address to current backlog. The focus will be on a short-term solution to immediately or in a feasibly expedited manner address the backlog and a long-term solution to ensure such cases and investigations are conducted in a timely manner pursuant to the law. Some of the recommendations may be in current bills still alive at the Hawaii Legislature.
If you require special assistance or auxiliary aids and/or services to participate in the House public hearing process (i.e., sign or foreign language interpreter or wheelchair accessibility), please contact the Committee Clerk at 586-6050 or email your request for an interpreter to HouseInterpreter@Capitol.hawaii.gov at least 24 hours prior to the hearing for arrangements. Prompt requests submitted help to ensure the availability of qualified individuals and appropriate accommodations.
For further information, please call the Committee Clerk at 586-6050.
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________________________________________ Senator Josh Green Chair |
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________________________________________ Rep. John M. Mizuno Chair |
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