SB 2898: DHS; Child Welfare Services; Domestic Violence; Training; Appropriation

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 non-profit 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 all child welfare services branch staff, tailored to their roles:  intake, assessment, case management, and permanency.  Intake and case management staff will be trained to do universal screening to measure the level of exposure to and involvement in violence in the home and community, as well as other risk factors.  Assessment and permanency social workers will be trained to manage domestic violence cases with skills in assessing child and family needs, creating safety plans, gathering witness declarations, and requesting medical records.  The child welfare services branch will contract the creation of or purchase a domestic violence curriculum as well as any necessary trainers, and update policies with best practices.

     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 is regularly scheduled to be on-site at one of the child welfare services branch offices.  This will facilitate and encourage consultation during staff assessment, planning, and provision of support to families with domestic violence.  The collaborative work will build systemic capacity within the child welfare workforce to investigate domestic violence and to support and engage with families during the child welfare services intervention.

     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 on-site staff in child welfare services branch offices to support all aspects of screening for and addressing domestic violence within a case.

     SECTION 2.  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 department of human services to contract with one or more organizations specializing in domestic violence to provide training and on-site staff in child welfare services branch offices to support all aspects of screening for and addressing domestic violence within a case.

     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; 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 on-site staff in Child Welfare Services Branch offices to support all aspects of screening for and addressing domestic violence within a case.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.