Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 17 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES › Department of Human Services › Chapter 1610 - CHILD WELFARE CASEWORK SERVICES › Subchapter 3 - ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTION SERVICES › Section 17-1610-29 - Family court intervention

Current through June, 2024
(a) The department
				  shall seek family court intervention when the department's assessment of the
				  family indicates the harm or threat of harm to the child warrants family court
				  jurisdiction to ensure the safety of the child and the delivery of services and
				  treatment to the family.
(b)
				  Depending on the circumstances of the family, the department may petition the
				  family court for:
(1) Family supervision over
				  the child and family;
(2) Foster
				  custody of the child and court jurisdiction over the family. The department
				  shall request that the court make the following judicial determinations based
				  on the record and/or evidence presented:
(A)
				  Continuation in the family home would be contrary to the immediate welfare of
				  the child. This determination must be made in the first court hearing that
				  sanctions (even temporarily) the removal of a child from home. If the
				  determination concerning contrary to the welfare is not made as specified
				  herein, the child is not eligible under the Title IV-E foster care maintenance
				  payments program for the duration of that stay in foster care;
(B) Reasonable efforts were made prior to
				  placement to prevent removal of the child from his or her home or reasonable
				  efforts were not required to prevent removal. This determination must be made
				  within sixty days of the child's involuntary removal; if the determination
				  concerning reasonable efforts to prevent the removal is not made as specified
				  above, the child is not eligible under the Title IV-E foster care maintenance
				  payments program for the duration of that stay in foster care.
(C) Reasonable efforts were made to finalize
				  the permanency plan that is in effect. This determination must be made within
				  twelve months of the initial date of entry into out-of-home care and at least
				  once every twelve months thereafter while the child is in foster care; if such
				  a judicial determination regarding reasonable efforts to finalize a permanency
				  plan is not made, the child becomes ineligible under Title IV-E from the end of
				  the 12th month following the date the child is
				  considered to have entered foster care or the end of the
				  12th month following the month in which the most
				  recent judicial determination of reasonable efforts to finalize a permanency
				  plan was made, and remains ineligible until such a judicial determination is
				  made, and
(D) Other appropriate
				  findings and orders, depending on the circumstances of the case.
(3) Permanent custody of the
				  child, if:
(A) The court determines the child
				  has been subjected to aggravated circumstances;
(B) The court determines the child is an
				  abandoned infant;
(C) The child's
				  legal custodian has been determined by the department to be unwilling or unable
				  to provide the child with a safe, nurturing home at any time during the
				  duration of the case; or
(D) The
				  child has been placed out of the family home for a total of twelve consecutive
				  months from the initial date of entry into out-of-home care
(4) Permanent custody of the child
				  or, if such a petition has been filed by another party, seek to be joined as a
				  party to the petition, in order to terminate the parental rights of a
				  parent(s):
(A) Whose child has been in foster
				  care under the responsibility of the State for 15 of the most recent 22 months.
				  The petition must be filed by the end of the child's fifteenth month in foster
				  care. In calculating when to file a petition for termination of parental
				  rights, the department:
(i) Shall calculate
				  the 15 out of the most recent 22 month period from the initial date of entry
				  into foster care
(ii) Shall use a
				  cumulative method of calculation when a child experiences multiple exits from
				  and entries into foster care during the 22 month period;
(iii) Shall not include trial home visits or
				  runaway episodes in calculating 15 months in foster care; and,
(iv) Need only apply section 475(5)(E) of the
				  Act to a child once if the department does not file a petition because one of
				  the exceptions applies;
(B) Whose child has been determined by a
				  court of competent jurisdiction to be an abandoned infant (as defined under
				  State law). A permanency hearing must be held within 30 days of a judicial
				  determination that the child is an abandoned infant and a petition to terminate
				  parental rights must be filed within 60 days of the judicial determination that
				  the child is an abandoned infant; or,
(C) Who has been convicted of: the murder of
				  another child of the parent, voluntary manslaughter of another child of the
				  parent, aided or abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited to commit such a
				  murder or such a voluntary manslaughter, or committed a felony assault that has
				  resulted in serious bodily injury to the child or to another child of the
				  parent, or parental rights with respect to a sibling have been terminated
				  involuntarily. Under such circumstances, a permanency hearing must be held
				  within 30 days of the judicial determination that reasonable efforts to reunify
				  family are not required and the petition to terminate parental rights must be
				  filed within 60 days of a judicial determination that reasonable efforts to
				  reunify the child and parent are not required.
(D) The department may elect not to file or
				  join a petition to terminate the parental rights of a parent if:
(i) The child is being cared for by a
				  relative;
(ii) The department has
				  documented in the case plan (which must be available for court review) a
				  compelling reason for determining that filing such a petition would not be in
				  the best interests of the individual child;
(iii) The department has not provided to the
				  family, consistent with the time period in the case plan, services that the
				  department deems necessary for the safe return of the child to the home, when
				  reasonable efforts to reunify the family are required.
(5) When the department files for
				  the termination of parental rights hearing, it concurrently begins to identify,
				  recruit, process and approve a qualified adoptive family for the
				  child.