STAND. COM. REP. NO. 627

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 952

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 S.B. No. 952 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require the Office of Wellness and Resilience to design, implement, and administer a two-year Child Welfare System Diversion and Intervention Pilot Program to support families and children involved, at risk of involvement, or at risk of reinvolvement with Child Welfare Services;

(2) Allow the Office to contract with public and private entities to provide necessary services; and

(3) Appropriate funds.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Wellness and Resilience, Mālama ʻOhana Working Group, Opportunity for Youth Action Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Youth Services Network, and two individuals.

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

Your Committee finds that more initiatives must be established to address the unmet needs of children and families in the State's child welfare system. To this end, the Mālama ʻOhana Working Group was established within the Office of Wellness and Resilience to seek, design, and recommend transformative changes to the State's existing child welfare system. The establishment of the Child Welfare System Diversion and Intervention Pilot Program in this measure is based on the Working Group's recommendation for preventative programs and comprehensive services to reduce the risk of families entering the child welfare system. The Pilot Program, through its wide variety of support and assistance mechanisms for families involved or at-risk of involvement with the State's child welfare system, will strengthen the existing child welfare system and ensure the health, safety, and well-being of families in the State.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Extending the duration of the Child Welfare System Diversion and Intervention Pilot Program from two years to five years;

(2) Changing the appropriation to an unspecified amount;

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

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

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 S.B. No. 952, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 952, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair