03/09/2004 09:03 AM Senate FIN

                                                                                                                                
     CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 288(JUD)                                                                                            
     "An Act relating to temporary custody hearings, and to certain                                                             
     determinations concerning placement of a child in child-in-                                                                
     need-of-aid proceedings; and providing for an effective date."                                                             
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
This  was the first  hearing  for this  bill in  the Senate  Finance                                                            
Committee.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Wilken explained  that this bill  "clarifies the  language                                                            
regarding the  findings the court  is required to make when  a child                                                            
is removed  from his  or her home  by the Department  of Health  and                                                            
Social Services."                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
JACQUELINE TUPOU,  Staff to Senator Lyda Green, the  bill's sponsor,                                                            
communicated  that  current State  law specifies  that  in order  to                                                            
determine whether a child's  removal from their home is "contrary to                                                            
the welfare  of the child,"  a hearing must  be conducted within  48                                                            
hours  of  the  child's  removal.  She  informed  that  while  State                                                            
regulations  do  not  require  specific  language  in  this  regard,                                                            
federal requirements  mandate that  the judge's ruling must  contain                                                            
the language "contrary  to the welfare of the child." Therefore, she                                                            
continued, the  purpose of this legislation is to  align the State's                                                            
language with federal requirements.  As a result, she continued, the                                                            
State could  receive approximately  $500,000  in additional  federal                                                            
funding in FY 05.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
Senator  Dyson  asked whether  the  legislation  would  provide  any                                                            
benefit to the affected  children, as he noted that the bill appears                                                            
to focus  on increasing  the State's  ability  to garner  additional                                                            
federal funding.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Ms.  Tupou  responded  that   the  bill  would  not  result  in  any                                                            
substantive changes. She  stressed that the timeframe requirement in                                                            
which the judge must determine  whether the child's removal from the                                                            
home is warranted  would remain unchanged,  and she reiterated  that                                                            
the bill  would require the  judge to specify,  on the record,  that                                                            
allowing  the child to remain  in their home  would be "contrary  to                                                            
the welfare  of the  child." Therefore,  she  summarized, this  bill                                                            
would serve "to clarify a process that is already occurring."                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
Senator  Dyson  asked  the  reason  that  this seemingly   "straight                                                            
forward matter"  has prompted the development of numerous  committee                                                            
substitutes.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Ms. Tupou  referred  the Committee  to language  in Section 1,  page                                                            
one, line  14 of the Judiciary  committee  substitute that  reads as                                                            
follows.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     …During the continuance, the child remains in the temporary                                                              
     legal {EMERGENCY} custody of the department,….                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
Ms.  Tupou  stated  that  as  a  result  of  dialogue   between  the                                                            
Department of Law and the  Legislative Legal division, this language                                                            
has undergone  three revisions ranging  from "emergency custody"  to                                                            
"temporary  emergency  custody" to  "temporary  legal custody."  She                                                            
stated that  the language in the Judiciary  committee substitute  is                                                            
acceptable to the aforementioned entities.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Senator  Dyson  understood,  therefore,   that  this  wording  issue                                                            
required numerous committee substitutes to be drafted.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
Ms. Tupou confirmed  that numerous drafts of the bill  were required                                                            
in order to reach a consensus regarding this language.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Wilken stated that  while not originally  referred  to the                                                            
Committee, the development  of the $500,000 Department of Health and                                                            
Social  Services fiscal  note prompted  the bill's  referral to  the                                                            
Committee.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Green  moved  to  report  the  bill  from  Committee  with                                                            
individual recommendations and accompanying fiscal note.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
There  being  no  objection,  CS  SB  288(JUD)   was  REPORTED  from                                                            
Committee with  fiscal note #1, in the amount of $500,000,  from the                                                            
Department of Health and Social Services.