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.