RELATING TO CHILD WELFARE SERVICES.

Budget Children Labor

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: MARTEN, AMATO, GRANDINETTI, HASHEM, HUSSEY, ILAGAN, KAPELA, KILA, LEE, M., MATAYOSHI, MATSUMOTO, MIYAKE, OLDS, PERRUSO, POEPOE, REYES ODA, SAYAMA, SHIMIZU, SOUZA, TAKAYAMA, TAM, TARNAS, Iwamoto
Last action: 2026-05-07
Official status: Transmitted to Governor.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not specify the exact amount of money being appropriated.

Funding Training for Child Welfare Workers

This bill provides money to train child welfare workers about domestic violence.

What This Bill Does

Appropriates funds for the Department of Human Services to contract with organizations specializing in domestic violence to provide training and consultation to staff in Child Welfare Services Branch offices statewide.

Who It Names or Affects

Child welfare workers who will receive new training.
Families and children dealing with domestic violence may benefit from better support by trained staff.

Terms To Know

Domestic Violence: Violence or abuse that happens between people in the same family or household.
Child Welfare Services Branch: The part of the Department of Human Services that helps protect children and support families.

Limits and Unknowns

Does not specify how much money is being appropriated for this training.
It does not provide details on when exactly the new system will be ready or if it will work as planned.
The bill only covers fiscal year 2026-2027, so future funding needs to be decided separately.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

CD1

Hawaii published version CD1

Plain English: HB1801 CD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.

HB1801 CD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.
NO.
1801 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 H.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII S.D.

HD1

Hawaii published version HD1

Plain English: HB1801 HD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.

HB1801 HD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.
NO.
1801 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 H.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILD WELFARE SERVICES .

SD1

Hawaii published version SD1

Plain English: HB1801 SD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.

HB1801 SD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.
NO.
1801 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 H.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII S.D.

Bill History

2026-05-08 S
Received notice of passage on Final Reading in House (Hse. Com. No. 888).
2026-05-07 H
Transmitted to Governor.
2026-05-06 H
Received notice of Final Reading (Sen. Com. No. 816).
2026-05-06 S
Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none.
2026-05-06 H
Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0).
2026-05-01 S
48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 05-06-26
2026-05-01 S
Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 119-26).
2026-05-01 H
Forty-eight (48) hours notice Wednesday, 05-06-26.
2026-05-01 H
Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 119-26) as amended in (CD 1).
2026-05-01 S
The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 2 Aye(s): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, Kanuha; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.
2026-05-01 H
The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 3 Ayes: Representative(s) Marten, Hartsfield, Alcos; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Olds.
2026-04-30 H
Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday 05-01-26 1:40PM in conference room 329.
2026-04-29 H
Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Thursday, 04-30-26 1:40PM in conference room 329.
2026-04-27 H
Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 778).
2026-04-27 S
Senate Conferees Appointed: San Buenaventura Chair; Kanuha Co-Chair; Fevella.
2026-04-20 S
Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 786).
2026-04-20 H
House Conferees Appointed: Marten, Hartsfield Co-Chairs; Olds, Alcos.
2026-04-16 S
Received notice of disagreement (Hse. Com. No. 599).
2026-04-14 H
House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).
2026-04-10 H
Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 528) in amended form (SD 1).
2026-04-10 S
Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.
2026-04-09 S
One Day Notice 04-10-26.
2026-04-09 S
Reported from WAM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3626) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading.
2026-04-06 S
The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 12 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Richards, Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Lee, C..
2026-04-01 S
The committee(s) on WAM deferred the measure until 04-06-26 10:31AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.
2026-03-30 S
The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 04-01-26 10:03AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.
2026-03-25 S
Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.
2026-03-25 S
Reported from HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3174) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.
2026-03-18 S
The committee(s) on HHS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HHS were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, McKelvey, Kanuha, Keohokalole, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.
2026-03-13 S
The committee(s) on HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 03-18-26 1:00PM; CR 225 & Videoconference.
2026-03-10 S
Referred to HHS, WAM.
2026-03-06 S
Passed First Reading.
2026-03-06 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 48).
2026-03-05 H
Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.
2026-03-05 H
Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 821-26), recommending passage on Third Reading.
2026-02-26 H
The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 16 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.
2026-02-24 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Thursday, 02-26-26 2:00PM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-02-12 H
Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0).
2026-02-12 H
Reported from HSH (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 219-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.
2026-02-03 H
The committee on HSH recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Marten, Olds, Amato, Hartsfield, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Takayama, Takenouchi, Alcos, Garcia; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.
2026-01-29 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by HSH on Tuesday, 02-03-26 9:00AM in House conference room 329 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-01-26 H
Referred to HSH, FIN, referral sheet 1
2026-01-23 H
Introduced and Pass First Reading.
2026-01-22 H
Pending introduction.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO CHILD WELFARE SERVICES.
DHS; Child Welfare Services; Domestic Violence; Training; Consultation; Appropriation ($)
Appropriates funds for the Department of Human Services to contract with one or more organizations specializing in domestic violence to provide training and consultation virtually or in-person to staff in Child Welfare Services Branch offices statewide. (CD1)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB1801

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1801

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING
TO CHILD WELFARE SERVICES
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

����
SECTION
1.
�
The legislature finds that the malama
ohana working group, established by Act 86, Session Laws of Hawaii 2023, was
tasked with recommending transformative changes to the State's child welfare
system.
�
For fifteen months, seventeen
members of the working group representing those serving youth, as well as
youth, families, and community members throughout the State, opened their
hearts and listened deeply to the stories of lived experience within the child
welfare system.
�
They developed
recommendations to establish a child welfare system that is trauma-informed,
sustains a community-based partnership, and responds to the needs of children
and families in the system and the community.
�

The result of this work was a powerful vision for transforming how
Hawaii supports families and protects children.

����
Among the
many recommendations to move toward this vision was to strengthen the capacity
of the child welfare services branch to manage cases that are complicated by
domestic violence experienced by a parent or children in the family.
�
In cases involving domestic violence, the
child welfare services system must differentiate between parents who cooperate
with the system and those who use the system to punish or continue abusing
their partner.

����
The
legislature further finds that child welfare services social workers support
and advocate for families and children experiencing domestic violence through
counseling, as well as connecting clients with legal and community resources
that support safety and stability.
�
One
such resource is provided through a one-year contract between the department of
human services and Domestic Violence Services for Families, a non-profit that
provides referred clients with individual and group education, counseling, safety
and service plans, supervised visitation, parenting skills, and temporary
restraining order assistance, if needed.

����
In 2025,
the child welfare services branch confirmed one hundred eighty-one cases of
children experiencing domestic violence, and one hundred seventy-nine cases
with confirmed child victims.
�
To assist
the child welfare services branch with better detecting and servicing the
growing number of cases of domestic violence, three new initiatives will need
to be implemented.

����
The first
initiative involves specialized, comprehensive domestic violence training for
all child welfare services branch staff, tailored to their roles:
�
intake, assessment, case management, and
permanency.
�
Intake and case management
staff will be trained to do universal screening to measure the level of
exposure to and involvement in violence in the home and community, as well as
other risk factors.
�
Assessment and
permanency social workers will be trained to manage domestic violence cases
with skills in assessing child and family needs, creating safety plans,
gathering witness declarations, and requesting medical records.
�
The child welfare services branch will
contract the creation of or purchase a domestic violence curriculum as well as
any necessary trainers, and update policies with best practices.

����
The second
initiative is to develop a tracking system to be integrated into the new
computer system currently being developed for the child welfare services branch,
which is projected to be available by the end of 2026.
�
The new system would monitor identified
domestic violence cases and report on the numbers, what specialized services
were offered and used, and the dispositions of the cases.
�
This will help ensure domestic violence cases
are being monitored, identify patterns of behavior that may be used to predict
risk, and provide data to inform policies for effective service delivery.

����
The third
initiative is to establish a system in which a contracted domestic violence specialist
is regularly scheduled to be on-site at one of the child welfare services
branch offices.
�
This will facilitate and
encourage consultation during staff assessment, planning, and provision of
support to families with domestic violence.
�

The collaborative work will build systemic capacity within the child
welfare workforce to investigate domestic violence and to support and engage
with families during the child welfare services intervention.

����
The
purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds for the department of human
services to contract with one or more organizations specializing in domestic
violence to provide training and on-site staff in child welfare services branch
offices to support all aspects of screening for and addressing domestic
violence within a case.

����
SECTION
2.
�
There is appropriated out of the
general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of
$ or so much
thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for the department of
human services to contract with one or more organizations specializing in
domestic violence to provide training and on-site staff in child welfare
services branch offices to support all aspects of screening for and addressing
domestic violence within a case.

����
The sum
appropriated shall be expended by the department of human services for the
purposes of this Act.

����
SECTION 3.
�
This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

DHS;
Child Welfare Services; Domestic Violence; Training; Appropriation

Description:

Appropriates
funds for the Department of Human Services to contract with one or more
organizations specializing in domestic violence to provide training and on-site
staff in Child Welfare Services Branch offices to support all aspects of
screening for and addressing domestic violence within a case.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.