HB 1801

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
1801
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII
S.D. 1
C.D. 1
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO CHILD WELFARE SERVICES.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
���� SECTION
1.� The legislature finds that the malama
ohana working group, established by Act 86, Session Laws of Hawaii 2023, was
tasked with recommending transformative changes to the State's child welfare
system.� For fifteen months, seventeen
members of the working group representing those serving youth, as well as
youth, families, and community members throughout the State, opened their
hearts and listened deeply to the stories of lived experience within the child
welfare system.� They developed
recommendations to establish a child welfare system that is trauma-informed,
sustains a community-based partnership, and responds to the needs of children
and families in the system and the community.�
The result of this work was a powerful vision for transforming how
Hawaii supports families and protects children.
���� Among the
many recommendations to move toward this vision was to strengthen the capacity
of the child welfare services branch to manage cases that are complicated by
domestic violence experienced by a parent or children in the family.� In cases involving domestic violence, the
child welfare services system must differentiate between parents who cooperate
with the system and those who use the system to punish or continue abusing
their partner.
���� The
legislature further finds that child welfare services social workers support
and advocate for families and children experiencing domestic violence through
counseling, as well as connecting clients with legal and community resources
that support safety and stability.� One
such resource is provided through a one-year contract between the department of
human services and Domestic Violence Services for Families, a program of Child
and Family Service, a non-profit corporation that provides referred clients with
individual and group education, counseling, safety and service plans,
supervised visitation, parenting skills, and temporary restraining order
assistance, if needed.
���� In 2025,
the child welfare services branch confirmed one hundred eighty-one cases of
children experiencing domestic violence, and one hundred seventy-nine cases
with confirmed child victims. �To assist
the child welfare services branch with better detecting and servicing the
growing number of cases of domestic violence, three new initiatives will need
to be implemented.
���� The first
initiative involves specialized, comprehensive domestic violence training for
child welfare services branch staff, tailored to their roles.
���� The second
initiative is to develop a tracking system to be integrated into the new
computer system currently being developed for the child welfare services branch,
which is projected to be available by the end of 2026.� The new system would monitor identified
domestic violence cases and report on the numbers, what specialized services
were offered and used, and the dispositions of the cases.� This will help ensure domestic violence cases
are being monitored, identify patterns of behavior that may be used to predict
risk, and provide data to inform policies for effective service delivery.
���� The third
initiative is to establish a system in which a contracted domestic violence
specialist provides virtual or in-person consultation at child welfare services
branch offices.��� The purpose of this Act
is to appropriate funds for the department of human services to contract with one
or more organizations specializing in domestic violence to provide training and
consultation virtually or in-person to staff in child welfare services branch
offices statewide.
���� SECTION
2.� There is appropriated out of the
general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $200,000 or so much thereof
as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for the department of human
services to contract with one or more organizations specializing in domestic
violence to provide training and consultation virtually or in-person to staff
investigating reports of child abuse or neglect involving domestic violence.
���� The sum
appropriated shall be expended by the department of human services for the
purposes of this Act.
���� SECTION 3.� This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.
Report Title:
DHS;
Child Welfare Services; Domestic Violence; Training; Consultation;
Appropriation
Description:
Appropriates
funds for the Department of Human Services to contract with one or more
organizations specializing in domestic violence to provide training and consultation
virtually or in-person to staff in Child Welfare Services Branch offices statewide.� (CD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.