STAND. COM. REP. NO. 736

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 951

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 951, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs 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; and

(2) Require the Department of Human Services to inform the appropriate authority of the United States military when, upon receiving a report of child abuse or neglect, 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.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the United States Department of Defense; Hawaii Military Affairs Council; Military and Community Relations Office of the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; and two individuals.

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

Your Committee finds that each Military Service component of the United States Department of Defense (DOD) has established policies to implement DOD policy directives on the response to child abuse and neglect. Furthermore, federal law requires the DOD to report any suspected cases of child abuse or neglect to military officials, Family Advocacy Program personnel, local authorities, and child welfare services (CWS) offices. While DOD personnel have strict reporting requirements, local CWS offices do not have a legal requirement to notify military officials of allegations of child abuse or neglect during any ongoing investigation involving military families. Accordingly, this measure offers the thousands of military children across the State access to critical preventative and rehabilitative services provided by federally mandated military programs.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 951, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 951, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

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KARL RHOADS, Chair