Opinion ID: 6495410
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: State Officials Place B.D. with Keahiolalo

Text: Approximately two weeks after Keahiolalo received the TRO, a Hawaii Child Welfare Services (CWS) official visited David’s home and performed a Comprehensive Strengths and Risk Assessment Rating to determine whether the home was safe for B.D. David received a risk score of 3 on a scale of 0–51, with a low/moderately low risk score ranging from 1 to 17. During the home visit, David explicitly informed the official of the terms of the Custody Order. Around this same time, at least two other CWS officials were also explicitly informed of the Custody Order. Nevertheless, a few days after the home visit, on December 20, several CWS officials (accompanied by Keahiolalo and multiple state police officers) conducted a “grab and go” of B.D. without a court order or prior notice to David. State officials took B.D. from her school, placed her in Keahiolalo’s custody, immediately escorted Keahiolalo and B.D. to the airport, and flew them to Kauai “to avoid any encounter with [David].” David was not informed that B.D. had been taken from school and transported to Kauai until after B.D. was placed in Keahiolalo’s custody and police officers served the TRO on David at her home. David and her attorney attempted to contact CWS, the police, and the Kauai court to get 8 DAVID V. KAULUKUKUI information about B.D.’s whereabouts, but they were unsuccessful. David again informed CWS of the terms of the existing Custody Order. David also reported to the Kauai County Police Department “that B.D. had been kidnapped and was in the custody of an allegedly abusive, non-custodial parent.” But Kaulukukui and the other named defendants worked together to prevent David’s allegations from being investigated or a police report from being filed. Eleven days later, during which time David had no contact with her daughter, the family court held a hearing on the TRO. The court learned of the Custody Order for the first time and dismissed the prohibition against David having contact with B.D. due to Keahiolalo’s “lack of authority . . . to file on behalf of [B.D.].” But the court declined to issue any additional orders and “directed counsel, as officers of the court, to discuss and work out the custody matters.” Despite the court’s direction, the Kauai County Prosecutor refused to (1) speak with David’s counsel, (2) produce any authority permitting Keahiolalo to maintain physical custody, or (3) allow David or her mother to see or talk to B.D. After the hearing, David’s counsel repeatedly attempted to contact CWS representatives on the islands of Kauai and Hawaii and have B.D. returned to David or removed from Keahiolalo, all to no avail. CWS initially attempted to deny involvement in the seizure to make it appear that Keahiolalo “simply took custody of B.D. himself,” but it later informed David that it would “be filing something” in the family court. Several days later, CWS removed B.D. from Keahiolalo’s home and placed her in a foster home on Kauai, still without allowing David to communicate with her daughter. Having made no progress working with state officials, on January 2, 2020, David moved for a TRO in federal DAVID V. KAULUKUKUI 9 district court requiring the state to return B.D. to her custody. Four days later, the Hawaii Department of Human Services filed a petition for temporary custody of B.D. in the Hawaii family court. After an evidentiary hearing, the family court denied the Department’s petition. Finally—21 days after being grabbed from her school without her mother’s knowledge and without being able to even talk to her mother—B.D. was returned home.