HB 1805

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
1805
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO CHILD WELFARE.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
PART I
���� SECTION 1.�
The legislature finds that several recent tragic child abuse deaths have
exposed critical flaws within the State's child welfare system, including the
administration of foster care services.�
The legislature further finds that in Audit of the Department of
Human Services' Child Welfare Services Branch, Report No. 24-05, State of
Hawaii, April 2024, the state auditor found that the department of human services'
child welfare services branch failed to comply with statutory licensing
requirements, placing children at risk and reducing federal Title IV-E
reimbursements for foster care services.�
The legislature additionally finds that Act 86, Session Laws of Hawaii
2023, established the malama ohana working group to seek, design, and recommend
transformative changes to the State's existing child welfare system.� Subsequently, in its 2024 Malama Ohana
Working Group Report, State of Hawaii, December 2024, the malama ohana working
group highlighted the need for responsive oversight of both systemic and
individual concerns in the State's child welfare system.
���� The
legislature further finds that establishing an independent and autonomous office
of the child advocate in the State is necessary to provide impartial oversight
of the delivery of services to children and their families by state agencies,
including the department of human services, and its child welfare services
branch, and other entities that serve children and their families through funds
provided by the State. �The office of the
child advocate would provide this oversight through site visits to facilities
that serve children, investigation of complaints, periodical review of internal
records and procedures to ensure compliance with applicable laws, issuance of
annual reports with findings and recommendations, including proposed
legislation, and outreach programs to educate the public. �The legislature believes that the external
oversight and recommendations provided by the office will increase
accountability across the State's child welfare system and lead to greater
protection of children from preventable harm, maximize the State's federal
funding opportunities, reduce costly lawsuit settlements, and restore public
confidence in the State's child welfare system.
���� Accordingly,
the purpose of this Act is to establish an independent office of the child advocate
within the department of the attorney general to oversee and evaluate the
delivery of services to children and their families by various state agencies
and entities, receive and investigate complaints, and make recommendations for
improvement.
PART
II
���� SECTION
2.� Chapter 28, Hawaii Revised Statutes,
is amended by adding a new part to be appropriately designated and to read as
follows:
"Part
    .� Office of the
child advocate
���� �28-A�
Definitions.� As used in this part:
���� "Agency"
has the same meaning as in section 96-1.
���� "Child"
means an individual under eighteen years of age.
���� "Child advocate" means the individual appointed to head the
office of the child advocate pursuant to section 28-C.
���� "Office" means the office of the child advocate established
pursuant to section 28-B.
���� �28-B�
Office of the child advocate; establishment; purpose.� There
is established within the department of the attorney general for administrative
purposes only, the office of the child advocate.� The office shall be independent of any agency
in the performance of the office's duties. �The office shall:
���� (1)� Ensure that children involved with agencies
receive timely, safe, and effective services in accordance with applicable laws;
���� (2)� Perform a system-wide examination of
the care and services that agencies provide to and for children; and
���� (3)� Advise agencies on how the State can
improve its services to and for children and their families.
���� �28-C�
Child advocate; appointment, tenure,
removal, qualifications, salary, and vacancy.�
(a)� The office shall be headed by the child
advocate for the proper administration and enforcement of this part.
���� (b)� The legislature, by a majority
vote of each house in joint session, shall appoint the child advocate who shall serve for a period of six years and thereafter until a successor
shall have been appointed.� The child advocate may be reappointed but may not serve for more than three terms.� The legislature, by two-thirds vote of the
members in joint session, may remove or suspend the child advocate from office, but only for neglect of duty, misconduct, or disability.
���� The child advocate shall have the legal expertise and knowledge of the child welfare
system, including foster care services, necessary to carry out the duties of the position.
���� No person may serve as child advocate within two years of the last day on which the
person served as a member of the legislature, or while the person is a
candidate for or holds any other state office, or while the person is engaged
in any other occupation for reward or profit.�
The salary of the child advocate shall be ninety per cent of the salary of the
deputy director of health.� The salary of
the child advocate shall not be diminished during the child advocate's term of office, unless by general law applying to all salaried officers
of the State.
���� If the child advocate dies, resigns, becomes ineligible to serve,
or is removed or suspended from office, the first assistant to the child advocate becomes the acting child advocate until a new child advocate is appointed for a
full term.
���� �28-D� Assistance, staff, delegation, and funding.� (a)� The child advocate shall appoint a first
assistant and other officers and employees as may be necessary to carry out
this part.� All employees, including the
first assistant, shall be hired by the child advocate and shall serve at the child
advocate's pleasure.
���� (b)� In
determining the salary of each employee, the child advocate shall consult with
the department of human resources development and shall follow as closely as
possible the recommendations of the department.�
The first assistant's salary shall be no more than ninety-two per cent
of the salary of the child advocate.
���� (c)� The child
advocate and the child advocate's full-time staff shall be entitled to
participate in any employee benefit plan.
���� (d)� The child
advocate may delegate to the child advocate's appointees any of the child
advocate's duties.
���� (e)� The funds
for the support of the office shall be provided for as a separate program in
the budget or supplemental budget of the department of the attorney general.
���� �28-E�
Powers and duties.� (a)� The
child advocate shall:
���� (1)� Oversee and evaluate the delivery of
services to children and their families by agencies and entities that provide
services to children and their families through funds provided by the State;
���� (2)� Periodically review the records of agencies
and procedures established by agencies to carry out this part, ensure the
agencies' compliance with applicable laws, and recommend revisions as
necessary;
���� (3)� Receive and review complaints of persons
concerning the actions of any agency and of any entity that provides services
to children and their families through funds provided by the State, make
appropriate referrals and investigate any complaint for which the child advocate
determines that a child or a child's family may be in need of assistance from
the child advocate or that a systemic issue in the State's provision of
services to children and their families is raised;
���� (4)� Periodically review the facilities, procedures,
and records of any and all entities, institutions, or residences, whether public
or private, where a child has been placed by any agency;
���� (5)� Recommend changes in state policies concerning
children, including systemic changes relating to the provision of juvenile
justice, child care, and foster care;
���� (6)� Serve or designate a person to serve as
a member of the child protective review panel established in section 587A-43;
���� (7)� Establish procedures for receiving and
processing complaints, conducting investigations, and issuing appropriate
responses to ensure safety of the child and complainant; and
���� (8)� Develop
and implement an outreach plan to educate the public of the purposes and services
of the office and procedures to contact or submit a complaint to the office.
���� (b)� Notwithstanding
any law to the contrary, the child advocate shall have access to, including the
right to inspect and copy, any records necessary to carry out the child
advocate's duties, including records held by any agency, except where
specifically prohibited by federal law; provided that the child advocate shall maintain
confidentiality with respect to all records and matters, including the
identities of complainants and witnesses except so far as disclosures may be
necessary to enable the child advocate to carry out the child advocate's duties
and to support the child advocate's recommendations.
���� (c)� Subject
to the privileges that witnesses have in the courts of
this State, the child advocate may:
���� (1)� Compel at a specified time and place,
by a subpoena, the appearance and sworn testimony of any person who the child
advocate reasonably believes may be able to give information relating to
a matter under investigation; and
���� (2)� Compel any person to produce documents,
papers, or objects which the child advocate reasonably believes may
relate to a matter under investigation.
���� The
child advocate may bring suit in an appropriate state court to
enforce these powers.
���� (d)� If the child advocate has a reasonable basis
to believe that there may be a breach of duty or misconduct by any officer or
employee of an agency, the child advocate may refer the matter to the
appropriate authorities without notice to that person.
���� �28-F� Annual
report.� No later than twenty days prior to the
convening of the regular session of 2028 and each regular session thereafter,
the child advocate shall submit to the legislature, governor, and public an annual
report discussing the office's activities during the preceding year and
findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation.
���� �28-G� Letters
to the child advocate.� A letter to the child advocate from, or a
letter written on behalf of, a child held in custody by any agency or any
entity that provides services to children and their families through funds
provided by the State, including child caring institutions and resource family
homes, shall be forwarded immediately, unopened, to the child advocate.
���� �28-H� Penalty for obstruction.� Any person
who wilfully hinders the lawful actions of the child advocate or the child
advocate's staff, or wilfully refuses to comply with their lawful demands,
shall be fined no more than $1,000."
PART
III
���� SECTION
3.� Section 84-18, Hawaii Revised
Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (e) to read as follows:
���� "(e)� Subject to the restrictions imposed in
subsections (a) through (d), the following individuals shall not represent any
person or business for a fee or other consideration regarding any legislative
action or administrative action, as defined in section 97-1, for twelve months
after termination from their respective positions:
���� (1)� The governor;
���� (2)� The lieutenant governor;
���� (3)� The administrative director of the
State;
���� (4)� The attorney general;
���� (5)� The comptroller;
���� (6)� The chairperson of the board of
agriculture and biosecurity;
���� (7)� The director of corrections and
rehabilitation;
���� (8)� The director of finance;
���� (9)� The director of business, economic
development, and tourism;
��� (10)� The director of commerce and consumer
affairs;
��� (11)� The adjutant general;
��� (12)� The superintendent of education;
��� (13)� The chairperson of the Hawaiian homes
commission;
��� (14)� The director of health;
��� (15)� The director of human resources
development;
��� (16)� The director of human services;
��� (17)� The director of labor and industrial
relations;
��� (18)� The chairperson of the board of land
and natural resources;
��� (19)� The director of law enforcement;
��� (20)� The director of taxation;
��� (21)� The director of transportation;
��� (22)� The president of the University of
Hawaii;
��� (23)� The executive administrator of the
board of regents of the University of Hawaii;
��� (24)� The administrator of the office of
Hawaiian affairs;
��� (25)� The chief information officer;
��� (26)� The executive director of the
agribusiness development corporation;
��� (27)� The executive director of the campaign
spending commission;
��� (28)� The executive director of the Hawaii
community development authority;
��� (29)� The executive director of the Hawaii
housing finance and development corporation;
��� (30)� The president and chief executive
officer of the Hawaii tourism authority;
��� (31)� The executive officer of the public
utilities commission;
��� (32)� The state auditor;
��� (33)� The director of the legislative
reference bureau;
��� (34)� The ombudsman;
��� (35)� The permanent employees of the
legislature, other than persons employed in clerical, secretarial, or similar
positions;
��� (36)� The administrative director of the
courts;
��� (37)� The executive director of the state
ethics commission;
��� (38)� The executive officer of the state land
use commission;
��� (39)� The executive director of the natural
energy laboratory of Hawaii authority;
��� (40)� The executive director of the Hawaii
public housing authority; [[and]]
��� (41)� The first deputy to the chairperson of
the commission on water resource management; and
��� (42)� The
child advocate;
provided
that this subsection shall not apply to any person who has held one of the
positions listed above only on an interim or acting basis and for a period of
less than one hundred eighty-one days."
���� SECTION 4.�
Section 353-29, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
���� "�353-29� What officials may visit.� The governor, lieutenant governor, attorney
general, director of finance, director of health, comptroller, judges of all
state courts, the ombudsman, the child advocate, the
mayors of the counties, members of the legislature, and members of county
councils shall be allowed at suitable hours to visit any state correctional
facility."
���� SECTION
5.� Section 587A-43, Hawaii Revised
Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
���� "(a)� The department shall establish a child
protective review panel to review each case of child abuse or neglect that
leads to near fatality or death as a result of acts or omissions of the child's
legal caretaker.� Based upon its review,
the panel shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the
director of the department.� The
department shall appoint members of the child protective review panel, who may
include:
���� (1)� Any physician treating the child for
abuse;
���� (2)� Any child protective services worker
assigned to the case and the worker's supervisor;
���� (3)� The guardian ad litem for the child,
appointed under section 587A-16, if applicable;
���� (4)� The members of the child's
multidisciplinary team or a child protective services consultant; [[and]]
���� (5)� The child advocate appointed
pursuant to section 28-C or the child advocate's designee; and
��� [[(5)]] (6)�
Other child protective services workers and supervisors."
PART IV
���� SECTION
6.� There is appropriated out of the
general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of
$  or so much
thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for the establishment of
the office of the child advocate, to be expended as follows:
���� (1)� $
to establish one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) child advocate position; and
���� (2)� $
to establish      full-time equivalent
(     FTE) positions within the office of the child
advocate.
���� The
sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of the attorney general
for the purposes of this Act.
PART V
���� SECTION 7.� In codifying
the new sections added by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes
shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in
designating the new sections in this Act.
���� SECTION 8.�
Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.� New statutory material is underscored.
���� SECTION
9.� This Act shall take effect on July 1,
3000.
Report Title:
Office of
the Child Advocate; Establishment; Department of the Attorney General; Child
Welfare; Juvenile Justice; Oversight; Investigation; Reports; Positions;
Appropriation
Description:
Establishes
an independent Office of the Child Advocate within the Department of the
Attorney General to oversee and evaluate the delivery of services to children
and their families by various state agencies and entities, receive and
investigate complaints, and make recommendations for improvement.� Requires annual reports to the Governor,
Legislature, and public.� Appropriates
funds.� Effective 7/1/3000.� (HD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.