Bill Text: HI SB954 | 2011 | Regular Session | Amended

Hawaii Senate Bill 954 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Foster Children; Foster Care; Extended Jurisdiction

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-16 - (S) Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to JDL. [SB954 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2011-SB954-Amended.html

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	954
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

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.

An additional federal program that is available to help children in the foster care system is the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law 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 in order 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 to Success 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 those services.

The purpose of this Act is to amend current law to require a transition plan for children once they have reached the age of fourteen, and to give children in the foster care system the option to remain under the jurisdiction of the family court system until they reach the age of twenty-one.

SECTION 2. 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[.]; provided that 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 3. 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 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Report Title:

Foster Children; Foster Care; Extended Jurisdiction

Description:

Amends current law to require a transition plan for children once they have reached the age of fourteen. Gives children in the foster care system the option to remain under the jurisdiction of the family court system until they reach the age of twenty-one. (SD1)

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.