Bill Text: HI SR1 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Family Court Custody Evaluator Working Group; Custody Evaluators
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-29 - (S) Referred to HMS/JGO, WAM. [SR1 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2010-SR1-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.R. NO. |
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TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE RESOLUTION
requesting the SENATE committee on human services 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.
WHEREAS, in the 2004 Regular Session, the Senate adopted Senate Resolution No. 40 (2004), authorizing the Senate Committee on Human Services to convene interim hearings on the Hawaii Family Court; and
WHEREAS, the interim hearings were designed to explore ways to make the Hawaii Family Court more accessible and family-oriented and focused on important issues relating to reduction in caseload, limiting the long-term use of interventions such as temporary restraining orders and protective orders, ensuring greater accountability of court-appointed personnel such as custody evaluators and guardians ad litem, and examining ways to reduce needless expenditures of time and money in counterproductive litigation relating to child custody determinations; and
WHEREAS, some of the recommendations resulting from the interim hearings were adopted and received legislative attention during the 2005 Regular Session, but there were still other issues that remained unresolved. Thus, in the 2006 Regular Session, the Senate and the House of Representatives adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 52, S.D. 1 (2006), authorizing the Committees on Human Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives to convene interim hearings on the use of legal interventions available to the Family Court and to establish one or more task forces (collectively, the SCR 52 Task Force) to facilitate their work; and
WHEREAS, the SCR 52 Task Force's work resulted in the adoption of some of the Task Force's recommendations during the 2007 Regular Session; however, the Task Force had not yet completed its work. Thus, in the 2007 Regular Session, the Senate adopted Senate Resolution No. 10, S.D. 1 (2007), authorizing the Senate Committee on Human Services and Public Housing to convene a working group to further study the recommendations made by the SCR 52 Task Force; and
WHEREAS, the resulting working group made recommendations that resulted in Act 149, Session Laws of Hawaii 2008 (Act 149), which amended section 571-46, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to identify as "custody court evaluators" investigators or professional personnel who are attached to or assisting the family court when an investigation and report concerning the care, welfare, and custody of any minor child of the parties is required; and
WHEREAS, Act 149 also directed the Judiciary to define the requirements to be a court-appointed child custody evaluator, and the standards of practice, ethics, policies, and procedures required in the performance of their duties, and to submit to the Legislature a report of its findings, recommendations, and resources requirements to implement the requirements of Act 149; and
WHEREAS, Act 149 further directed that the Judiciary was to convene and obtain assistance from a child custody advisory task force to make findings and recommendations relating to standards, education, and regulatory oversight and control; and
WHEREAS, in its report to the Legislature, the Judiciary noted that "there is currently not enough of a 'demand' for this particular sub-specialty curriculum or course of study leading to certification or a degree, except as being currently discussed by the Association of Marriage and Family Therapists" and did not make any other specific recommendations, stating that "[a]ny recommendations regarding resource needs would not be useful since there are not enough professionals doing this work"; and
WHEREAS, in 2009, the Legislative Reference Bureau studied custody evaluations in other states and, in particular, seven states (Alaska, California, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, North Dakota, and Utah) where, like Hawaii, an investigation and report is requested to assist the family court in making an initial custody determination; and
WHEREAS, while the above mentioned states vary in their specific requirements for appointment, they all require some combination of education, training, experience, knowledge, and skill (either specified in statute or rule, or left to the discretion of the appointing court), and all provide for varying levels of detail in standards of practice and conduct, and procedures for receiving, reviewing, and resolving complaints and grievances; and
WHEREAS, establishing a training curriculum and developing education and continuing training requirements would be the first step in establishing consistent standards of conduct and performance that would be of value to evaluators, their clients, and the courts, and would form the foundation for building a professional core of custody evaluators; and
WHEREAS, interest exists among educational institutions and other organizations in developing and establishing a custody evaluation curriculum and course work; and
WHEREAS, maximum effectiveness in developing and establishing a custody evaluation curriculum and course work necessitates the participation, advice, and guidance of experienced family court personnel and judges and various professionals who are and can provide child custody evaluation reports to assist the court; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, that the Senate Committee on Human Services is requested to convene a working group to further study family court child custody evaluator standards, procedures, and education curriculum, and other requirements to effectively implement the requirements of Act 149; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, upon the adoption of this Resolution, the working group is to be referred to as the "Family Court Custody Evaluator Working Group" and shall cease to exist on January 1, 2011; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Family Court Custody Evaluator Working Group shall develop and recommend child custody evaluation standards and procedures and a training curriculum and course work, and shall submit proposed legislation, if needed, to implement these recommendations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Family Court Custody Evaluator Working Group include one representative of the Department of Human Services (Child Welfare Division); Department of Health; Department of the Attorney General; University of Hawaii (School of Social Work, Department of Psychiatry, and Department of Psychology); Hawaii Psychological Association; Hawaii Psychiatric Medical Association; Hawaii Association of Marriage and Family Therapists; Family Law Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association; Child Law Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association; Honolulu Family Court Professionals: National Association of Social Workers-Hawaii Chapter; Hawaii Nurses Association; Legal Aid Society of Hawaii; Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii; Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Domestic Violence Action Center; Mediation Center of the Pacific; EPIC Ohana Conferencing, Hawaii Chapter; the Children's Rights Council; the Hawaii Coalition for Dads; Family Justice Alliance; VOICES; other education institutions with child and family expertise; and other organizations deemed appropriate by the Judiciary; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii Social Services Public Policy Center assist the Family Court Custody Evaluator Working Group with the facilitation of the Group's efforts; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Family Court Custody Evaluator Working Group include in its discussions participation from persons who represent the neighbor islands; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Family Court Custody Evaluator Working Group submit the report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation to this body, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2011; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the Senate; Chair of the Senate Committee on Human Services; Chair of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations; Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court; Director of Human Services; Director of Health; Attorney General; Dean of the University of Hawaii School of Social Work; Dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine; Chair of the Department of Psychiatry of the John A. Burns School of Medicine; Dean of the University of Hawaii College of Social Sciences; Chair of the University of Hawaii Department of Psychology; Director of the College of Social Services, Public Policy Center; President of the Hawaii Psychological Association; President of the Hawaii Psychiatric Medical Association; President of the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Association of Marriage and Family Therapists; Chair of the Family Law Section, Chair of the Child Law Section, and President of the Hawaii State Bar Association; President of the Honolulu Family Court Professionals; Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers-Hawaii Chapter; Executive Director of the Hawaii Nurses Association; President of the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii; Executive Director of Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii; Executive Director of the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Executive Director of the Domestic Violence Action Center; President of the Board of Directors of the Mediation Center of the Pacific; Director of EPIC Ohana Conferencing; President of Children's Rights Council of Hawaii; President of the Hawaii Coalition for Dads; President of the Family Justice Alliance; and Executive Director of VOICES.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Family Court Custody Evaluator Working Group; Custody Evaluators
