STAND. COM. REP. NO.441

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2001

RE: S.B. No. 1455

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 1455 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY PROGRAM,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to promote the sharing of information among agencies providing services to the child and family, and clarify the mission of the children's advocacy program.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary, Department of Human Services, Honolulu Police Department, and Children's Advocacy Center of Oahu, Inc. The Office of Information Practices submitted comments.

This measure requires all agencies and their providers that have information regarding the mental, physical health, or other information relating to the best interests of the child to share information among those who work with a particular child, especially children who are sexually abused, physically abused, and sexually assaulted from outside the family.

This measure also renames the children's advocacy program to the children's justice program and clarifies its mission as providing for the special needs of children as witnesses by promoting coordination in investigation, treatment, and legal processes. The intent is to reduce and prevent unnecessary trauma to children.

This measure recognizes the role that the children's justice program plays statewide in systems reform, case coordination, training, and developing interagency cooperation in child abuse cases.

Your Committees have amended this measure on the recommendation of the Judiciary to:

(1) Raise the maximum age from sixteen to eighteen in the definition of "child sexual abuse";

(2) Add serious physical child abuse to the investigative and case management functions of the children's justice program and defines "serious physical child abuse"; and

(3) Make housekeeping amendments, since the chapter was last amended in 1988.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1455, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1455, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

____________________________

BRIAN KANNO, Chair

____________________________

DAVID MATSUURA, Chair