Bill Text: HI SCR7 | 2010 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: amily Court Custody Evaluator Working Group; Custody Evaluators

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-30 - (S) Report adopted, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM. [SCR7 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2010-SCR7-Amended.html

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STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2934

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.C.R. No. 7

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committees on Human Services and Judiciary and Government Operations, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 7 entitled:

 

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE COMMITTEES ON HUMAN SERVICES OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO FURTHER STUDY FAMILY COURT CUSTODY EVALUATOR STANDARDS, INCLUDING A MINIMUM CURRICULUM, PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS FOR APPOINTMENT, AND OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to convene a working group to study family court child custody evaluator standards, procedures, and education curriculum, and other requirements to effectively implement the requirements of Act 149, Session Laws of Hawaii 2008.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Employee Assistance Resources-Hawaii, LLC, TalkDoctors, LLC, the Hawaii Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and two individuals.  Testimony opposing this measure was submitted by the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.  Written testimony presented to the Committees may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

 

Your Committees find that in 2009, the Legislative Reference Bureau studied custody evaluation in seven other states and found that all require a combination of education, training, experience, knowledge, and skill from custody workers. 

 

Your Committees further find that working groups studying the Hawaii Family Court in 2004, 2006, and 2007 presented successful legislative proposals that made the Family Court more accessible, family-oriented, and focused on reducing caseloads, limiting the long-term use of interventions, ensuring greater accountability of court-appointed personnel, and examining ways to reduce needless expenditures of time and money.  Your Committees hope that this new working group will have similar success in developing workable proposals to improve Hawaii's training curriculum, education, and continuing training requirements with the goal of establishing a child custody evaluation curriculum and coursework.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Removing the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence from the list of working group participants; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes to ensure clarity and accuracy in the language of this measure.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Judiciary and Government Operations that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 7, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 7, S.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Judiciary and Government Operations,

 

____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair		____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair