Bill Text: HI HB726 | 2011 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Foster Children Care System; Court Jurisdiction to Age 21
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-04 - (H) Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on JUD with none voting no (0) and Cabanilla excused (1). [HB726 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2011-HB726-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
726 |
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TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO FOSTER CHILDREN.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the transition from foster care to adulthood is a very difficult path for many former foster care individuals. Without the continuation of support services they received from foster parents and state programs when they were younger, many of these young adults face low odds for a successful life of achievement as an adult. Currently, the department of human services provides services to assist and support foster youth with their transition from foster care to adult self-sufficiency. The department of human services uses state and federal funds in accordance with the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (Public Law No. 106-169).
An additional federal program that is available to help children in the foster care system is the Fostering Connections and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law No. 110-351). That law was enacted in part to provide some federal support for housing, educational stability, and health care coordination for youth who have aged out of foster care to increase their opportunities for a successful transition into adulthood. However, family court jurisdiction for children in Hawaii's foster care system ends upon the child's eighteenth birthday. A former foster care youth in Hawaii who is experiencing difficulty with services provided by the Fostering Connections and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 or the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program currently has no legal mechanism for the family court to review the appropriateness of such services.
The purpose of this Act is to authorize the family court system to retain jurisdiction over children in the foster care system until they reach the age of twenty-one, and to amend current law to require a transition plan for children once they have reached the age of fourteen.
SECTION 2. Section 587A-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "child" to read as follows:
""Child" means a person who is born alive and is less than eighteen years of age. The term also includes persons under age twenty-one who were committed to the court pursuant to section 571-11(9)."
SECTION 3. Section 587A-31, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
"(c) At each permanency hearing, the court shall make written findings pertaining to:
(1) The extent to which each party has complied with the service plan and progressed in making the home safe;
(2) Whether the current placement of the child continues to be appropriate and in the best interests of the child or if another in-state or out-of-state placement should be considered;
(3) The court's projected timetable for reunification or, if the current placement is not expected to be permanent, placement in an adoptive home, with a legal guardian, or under the permanent custody of the department;
(4) Whether the department has made reasonable efforts, in accordance with the safety and well-being of the child, to:
(A) Place siblings who have been removed from the family home with the same resource family, adoptive placement, or legal guardians; and
(B) Provide for frequent visitation or other on-going interactions with siblings who are not living in the same household;
(5) The appropriate permanency goal for the child, including whether a change in goal is necessary;
(6) Whether the department has made reasonable efforts to finalize the permanency goal in effect for the child and a summary of those efforts;
(7) The date by which the permanency goal for the child is to be achieved;
(8) In the case of a child who has attained [sixteen]
fourteen years of age, but in no case later than the date the child
attains sixteen years of age, the services needed to assist the child with
the transition from foster care to independent living[;], if the
department determines that it is appropriate; and
(9) Consultations with the child in an age-appropriate manner about the proposed plan for permanency or transition from foster care to independent living. Consultations shall address the child's needs and goals for a successful transition to independent living, and may include needs and goals related to housing, physical and mental health, education, employment, community connections, and supportive relationships."
SECTION 4. Section 587A-35, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"[[]§587A-35[]]
Retention of jurisdiction. (a) Except as otherwise provided in
this chapter, the court may retain jurisdiction under this chapter until the
full term for which any order entered expires or until the child attains [nineteen]
twenty-one years of age, whichever comes first. The extended
jurisdiction of the court shall terminate on the earlier of:
(1) The child's twenty-first birthday; or
(2) The date the child withdraws consent to the extension of the court's jurisdiction in writing or in court.
(b) Notwithstanding an extension of jurisdiction, the child shall attain the age of majority at age eighteen."
SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.
Report Title:
Foster Children Care System; Court Jurisdiction to Age 21
Description:
Authorizes the family court foster care system to retain jurisdiction of a child until age twenty-one (subject to certain events which will terminate the jurisdiction) and amends the age of the child and scope of the required court findings in a permanency hearing. Effective July 1, 2050. (HB726 HD1)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
