STAND. COM. REP. NO. 514

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: H.B. No. 1365

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 1365 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Establish the Malama Ohana Working Group to develop recommendations for the State's child welfare system; and

(2) Appropriate funds to increase the procurement of contracted services to provide additional support and resources to families receiving benefits from the State's adoption assistance and permanency assistance programs.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Wellness and Resilience in the Office of the Governor, Early Childhood Action Strategy, Epic ‘Ohana, Hawai‘i State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Catholic Charities Hawai‘i, Hale Kipa, Hawaii Coalition for Child Protective Reform, and seventeen individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services and Hawai‘i Children's Action Network Speaks!.

Your Committee finds that children have the greatest chance to develop to their full capacity when they live in safe, secure, and nurturing homes. Your Committee further finds that the problems faced by children and families in the State's child welfare system are complex and cannot be resolved by the Department of Human Services alone. In order to address and resolve these diverse and multi-faceted problems, the State must work with the community and various stakeholders, including parents and children with lived experience in the child welfare system, to determine where necessary improvements to core infrastructure can be made. The Malama Ohana Working Group established by this measure is intended to improve outcomes for all children and families in the State's child welfare system by collaboratively working with the community to protect children in and out of the child welfare system.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Placing the Malama Ohana Working Group in the Office of Wellness and Resilience in the Office of the Governor, rather than the Department of Human Services and making a conforming amendment for the appropriation to the working group;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 30, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Your Committee notes that the proposed co-chairs of the Malama Ohana Working Group are members of two private organizations who must first be invited to participate in the working group. Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Finance, if it chooses to deliberate on this measure, to consider amending this measure further to permit the working group to be temporarily led by a member of one of the State agencies appointed to the working group until the proposed co-chairs accept invitations to the working group.

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 H.B. No. 1365, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1365, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________

JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair