STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1023-00

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 2000

                                 RE: S.B. No. 2443
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Human Services and Housing, to which was
referred S.B. No. 2443 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FAMILIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to require specified
professionals, officers, employees, and teachers to report child
abuse or neglect to either the police or the Department of Human
Services.

     The Department of Human Services, Honolulu Police
Department, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney for the City
and County of Honolulu, the Sex Abuse Treatment Center, and an
individual, testified in support of this bill.

     Your Committee finds that the current requirement to notify
both the police department and the Department of Human Services,
while implemented with good intentions, creates an unnecessary
burden for people who suspect a child is being abused or
neglected and may discourage prompt reporting of abuse or
neglect.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
bill by:

     (1)  Adding a section that exempts the Department of Human
          Services from the requirement of child care and
          adoption agencies to prepare medical history forms and

 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1023-00
                                 Page 2

 
          obtain consent to release these forms from the natural
          parents, if the exemption expedites the adoption
          process and is in the child's best interest; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for
          clarity, consistency, and style.
 
     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Human Services and Housing that is attached to this
report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose
of S.B. No. 2443, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass
Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2443, H.D.
1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian
Affairs.

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



                                   ______________________________
                                   DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair