Bill Text: HI SCR79 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: DHS Workers Training re Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (SD1)

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-2)

Status: (Passed) 2010-04-20 - (S) Resolution adopted in final form. [SCR79 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2010-SCR79-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	79
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE PROVISION OF ORIENTATION AND ADDITIONAL TRAINING TO INCREASE THE ABILITY OF STATE AGENCY CASE WOrKERS TO ADDRESS THE ISSUES FACED BY GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN.

 

WHEREAS, as a result of the work of the Joint Legislative Committee on Family Caregiving, Act 11, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2008, established a Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Task Force 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 as a result of a March 2009 Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (GRG) Focus Group, that participants with grandchildren in custody of Child Protective Services (CPS), Department of Human Services (DHS), expressed common frustration with DHS case workers because grandparents may not have received enough information from DHS workers; and

 

     WHEREAS, observations in the March 2009 GRG Focus Group show that:

 

     (1)  Grandparents have little or no understanding of laws that drive a CPS case and may misunderstand the role of a DHS case worker;

 

     (2)  Grandparents raising grandchildren often feel afraid, intimidated, helpless and angry;

 

     (3)  Many grandparents raising grandchildren do not seek help from DHS because they are afraid that "the system" will remove their grandchildren from their care;

 

     (4)  Some DHS case workers:

 

          (A)  Do not respect cultural values related to the sacredness of the grandparent/grandchild relationship;

 

          (B)  Do not respect the senior as the grandparent with knowledge about the history of the child's family;

 

          (C)  Do not acknowledge a grandparent's right to have a view of the best interest of their grandchildren; and

 

          (D)  Do not provide the grandparent with emotional support; rather the grandparents reported distress in relations with some workers; and

 

     (5)  Many grandparents do not know about current laws and subsidies that are designed to help and protect them; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Human Services is urged to provide orientation and additional training to increase the ability of DHS case workers to address the issues faced by grandparents who raise grandchildren, including increasing case workers' awareness about:

 

     (1)  Local cultural beliefs regarding the important roles of grandparents within the family structure, especially when grandchildren need care;

 

     (2)  What grandparents experience (fear, helplessness, and anger) when their grandchildren are taken into custody by Child Protective Services or placed in foster care, and there are rules for having contacts with their grandchildren; and

 

     (3)  Grandparents' need for clear explanations to understand guidelines for managing cases involving children in state custody who need foster care and a safe permanent home; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services is requested to submit a report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2011 Regular Session on the initiatives the Department has implemented to increase the ability of DHS case workers to understand and address the issues faced by grandparents who raise grandchildren; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Human Services, the Director of the Executive Office on Aging, the County Executive of the City and County of Honolulu Elderly Affairs Division, the Coordinator for the Department of Health Foster Care Licensing Unit, and the Administrator of the Social Services Division of the Department of Human Services.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Providing Additional Training to DHS Workers in Relation to GRG