Bill Text: HI SR35 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Incarcerated Parents; Additional Information and Training by DPS
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-1)
Status: (Passed) 2010-03-15 - (S) Report and Resolution Adopted, as amended (SD 1). [SR35 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2010-SR35-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.R. NO. |
35 |
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TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE RESOLUTION
URGING THE provision of education to incarcerated parents to ensure child support issues are addressed without delay and upon release, to prepare them for reintegratiOn with their children and families, including grandparents who have raised their children.
WHEREAS, as a result of the work of the Joint Legislative Committee on Family Caregiving, Act 11, Special Session Law of Hawaii 2008, established a Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Task Force (GRG)to assess and report on the needs and issues of grandparents raising grandchildren; and
WHEREAS, the final report generated by the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Task Force found that incarcerated parents do not understand their rights and responsibilities regarding child support payments, including their responsibility to inform the court of their incarceration and corresponding inability to pay child support; and
WHEREAS, the GRG final report also found that:
(1) Incarcerated parents leaving prison lack awareness on how to best re-enter relations with their children;
(2) Reintegration classes are offered to parents being released from prison but are not mandatory; and
(3) Parents being released from incarceration without adequate re-entry education may disrupt stable households that grandparents provide; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, that the Department of Public Safety make mandatory its existing program for preparing soon-to-be-released parents to deal with life issues, and enhance that program by including information and training regarding how soon-to-be-released parents can:
(1) Renew contacts with their children and grandparents and other ohana or family member caring for their children;
(2) Prevent or avoid conflict and disrupting the lives of their children and grandparents who have been raising their children; and
(3) Prepare themselves for assuming full responsibility as a parent; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that upon intake, the Department of Public Safety inform parents being incarcerated that it is the parent's responsibility to contact the respective court in reference to child support obligations and to inform the court of the parent's inability to pay child support due to incarceration; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public Safety is requested to submit a report to the legislature on the actions it has taken pursuant to this resolution no later than twenty days before the convening of the 2011 session; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Public Safety, the Director of Health, the Director of Human Services, the County Executive of the City and County of Honolulu Elderly Affairs Division, the Director of the State of Hawaii Executive Office on Aging, and the Head of the Community Alliance on Prisons.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Incarcerated Parents; Additional Information and Training by DPS
