Section 17-1610-29 - Family court intervention(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.(c) In the case where a child is subject to court ordered family supervision and the child is placed in out-of-home care by the department, a report shall be submitted to the court and a hearing held within ten days of the child's removal from the home, pursuant to section 587A-4, HRS. In addition, the provisions of subsection (b)(2) shall apply.Haw. Code R. § 17-1610-29
[Eff DEC 09 2010] (Auth: HRS §§ 346-14, 350-2) (Imp: HRS §§ 350-1, 350-2, 587A-28)