STAND. COM. REP. NO. 591

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 951

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Public Safety and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 951 entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require mandatory reports of child abuse or neglect to include the military status of the child's parent or guardian, if known;

(2) Require the Department of Human Services to make efforts to determine the military status of a person implicated in child abuse or neglect and to inform the appropriate Department of Defense family advocacy program of an open investigation of a member of the United States military; and

(3) Require the Director of Human Services to amend or adopt rules to authorize the disclosure to Department of Defense family advocacy programs of any allegations of child and abuse or neglect involving a member of the United States military.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the United States Department of Defense, Hawaii Military Affairs Council, and three individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services and Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committees find that federal law requires all United States Department of Defense personnel to report any suspected cases of child abuse or neglect to military officials and Family Advocacy Program personnel, and to local authorities and child welfare services (CWS) offices, but with many active-duty military families living in communities located outside of military installations, combined by their frequent moves, incidences of child abuse or neglect may remain unknown to the military. Your Committees further find that there is no corresponding requirement for state and local CWS offices to notify military officials of allegations of child abuse or neglect or when an investigation involving a military family is being conducted. This measure codifies the statutory responsibility of the Department of Human Services to report allegations of child abuse and neglect involving a member of the United States military to the United States Department of Defense, thereby increasing military families’ access to prevention and rehabilitative services.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have defined "director" to mean the Director of Human Services;

(2) Clarifying that upon receiving a report of child abuse or neglect, if there is sufficient information to determine that the report involves a family where one of the parents, guardians, or alleged perpetrators is a member of an identifiable branch of the United States military, the Department of Human Services shall inform the appropriate authority for that branch of the military;

(3) Deleting language that would have required the Director of Human Services to adopt or amend rules to authorize the disclosure to Department of Defense family advocacy groups any reported instances of child abuse or neglect involving a member of the United States military, as the Department of Human Services' administrative rules already provide this authority;

(4) Inserting an effective date of December 31, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services and Public Safety and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 951, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 951, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services and Public Safety and Military Affairs,

________________________________ BRANDON J.C. ELEFANTE, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair