STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1190

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 239

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 239, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILD ABUSE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend the definition of "child abuse or neglect" by clarifying that the failure to provide certain needs to a child shall not constitute child abuse or neglect if the sole reason the person responsible for the care of the child is unable to adequately provide for the child's care is lack of financial resources.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Office of Wellness and Resilience, Hawaiʻi Youth Services Network, Hawaiʻi Children's Action Network Speaks!, Hawaii Coalition for Child Protective Reform, Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi, and six individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services and one individual.

Your Committee finds that poverty and child neglect are highly correlated and often impact families simultaneously, but poverty does not cause neglect. Your Committee further finds that poverty may prevent a parent or legal guardian from providing adequate food, clothing, shelter, care, or supervision to their children; however, incapacity to provide is not the same as an unwillingness to provide. Your Committee notes that under existing law, the failure to provide a child with these needs qualifies as child abuse or neglect, even in cases where a parent or legal guardian may lack the financial ability to provide. Accordingly, this measure statutorily recognizes that failure to provide care due to poverty alone does not fall within the definition of "child abuse or neglect".

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language clarifying that evidence of parental request for support shall not be deemed as evidence of child abuse and neglect;

(2) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose; and

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

Your Committee requests that the Child Welfare Services Branch of the Department of Human Services, when in receipt of a report accusing parent of child abuse and neglect, provide support, rather than supervision, to the parent, unless the child is in substantial risk of harm.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 239, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 239, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

________________________________

JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair