Letters from state violate federal law
The procedures the state has used for years to notify thousands of Hawaii families suspected of child abuse or neglect in less serious cases do not meet U.S. regulations and must be changed, according to the preliminary findings of a federal investigation.
Based on a complaint, a bureau of the federal Administration for Children and Families recently examined the letters the state Department of Human Services was sending to notify families that someone within their home had been accused of abuse or neglect, typically in a call to a DHS hotline.
The department has been sending versions of the letter, which was the subject of a Sept. 25 front-page Honolulu Star-Advertiser story, since the mid-2000s, but only in cases in which the department believed the risk to the child was low to moderate and did not raise immediate safety concerns. More than 1,500 such letters have gone out this year.
Rather than launching full-blown abuse investigations in those cases — a process considered more adversarial — the department referred the families to nonprofit organizations for voluntary counseling and family- strengthening services.
The letters came under fire recently because they did not include any details of the alleged abuse — an omission that critics said violated child welfare laws. Federal regulations require child welfare agencies to disclose details of alleged abuse upon first contact with the accused, whether that contact is in person, by letter or via phone call.
Although DHS excluded any details of the allegations in the letters, the department informed the recipients that the abuse reports had been reviewed and a determination was made that the situation in the affected homes “may present a risk of harm” to the child. Yet it did not attempt to verify the veracity of the allegations before sending the letters.
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Mona Mann, a specialist with the federal agency, on Friday informed an advocate who had filed a complaint about the Hawaii letters that DHS was not in compliance with federal law and must revise its policies and procedures.
“We understand that the state is immediately changing its practice of how it notifies families subject to the in-home services program to address the concerns you raised,” Mann wrote in an email to Marilyn Yamamoto, who advocates for families dealing with child welfare agencies and filed the federal complaint in April.
Yamamoto shared Mann’s email with the Star-Advertiser.
Officials with the federal agency did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
Keopu Reelitz, a DHS spokeswoman, told the newspaper in an email that her department has suspended use of the letters.
She said families assessed as good candidates for the voluntary services program are now contacted face to face or by telephone and are informed of the concerns or allegations that trigger the contact.
Reelitz also said DHS has been working since last month with the federal government to assess the letters and related policies and is drafting a new protocol to address issues identified by federal officials.
The department is “committed to serving the families of Hawaii while achieving our principal goal of ensuring children’s safety, well being and permanency,” she wrote.
Yamamoto said she was pleased with the federal action but wouldn’t be satisfied until she saw proof that the changes were permanent and in line with federal law.
She advised any parents who are contacted by DHS’ child welfare branch to speak to an advocate or attorney to learn their rights before talking to anyone at the state agency.
Yamamoto said she is familiar with cases in which parents spoke to child welfare workers and said something that was taken out of context, triggering full-blown investigations that weren’t warranted. “Words get twisted like crazy,” she said.
Pua Kealoha, a Hawaii island resident who received one of the voluntary referral letters this year but successfully challenged the allegations, likewise said she was happy that the federal government took action.
But she questioned why the feds didn’t hold DHS accountable sooner, given the thousands of letters that have gone out over the past decade, and acted only after someone on the outside complained. “Why do we have to go to these kind of lengths to get them to do the right thing?” Kealoha said.
Bill Grimm, a senior attorney with the National Center for Youth Law in California, said if Hawaii doesn’t make changes to comply with the child welfare laws, the federal government could withhold funding. But he said he isn’t aware of any case in which the government actually took such action based on a violation of the laws regarding notification of abuse allegations.
Also, federal courts for the most part have ruled that child welfare laws are not privately enforceable, meaning an individual cannot sue the government for a violation of those laws, Grimm added.
16 responses to “Letters from state violate federal law”
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Does DHS have an in-house attorney to review letters before they implemented? If the attorney general is responsible why weren’t they consulted.
Because it would mean doing actual, hard, sweat breaking work. Why do this when you can sit on your fat rear end doing nothing and get paid? Coasting to retirement.
Every state department has a deputy AG assigned to provide legal advice and counsel. If the department requests a review from their deputy AG, they will receive an opinion. It’s unclear what happened in this case.
Hawaii has been evaluated for CAPTA compliance (this federal law) since 2003. They failed both the 2003 and 2009 evals. Administration for Children and Families missed this, the AG missed it and CWS must have missed their 2003 memo for the CAPTA amendment. ACF will be in Hawaii this June for the third round of evals.
http://www.caichildlaw.org/Shame_on_US_HI.htm
Actually it is crystal clear what happened here. Responsible bureaucrats do what they have always done, absolutely nothing. Sit on their okole and coast to retirement.
Standard practice for city and state government agencies. No one is responsible, no one does their jobs. Exactly why the Feds have a perfect track record of uncovering willful incompetence, willful failure to follow federal laws.
Just another day in the little 10th world of Hawaii Nei.
There is such a gap in just about every local law separating it from applicable federal law. Any local govt agency that takes federal funding in any form is liable to follow federal law as superior to local yokel da kine practices.
Here we go again. Feds find another state agency is utterly incompetent, lacking in professional management, willfully failing to do its job to standard. Why is this not news in the Nei?
HPD hides crime data to look good even though mainland PDs publish it. Feds slam HART/Kirky Boy for willful financial incompetence with rail.
Now we add DHS willfully sending out bullying, illegal letters for years. Clearly those responsible at DHS need to be fired and competent people brought in. Problem is finding competent managers in the Nei is an almost impossible job. Way too many weak of mind, lazy people. Remember how government workers/managers for years, watched Hulu & Netflix on state computers. An illegal use of state property and funding. No one did anything until exposed in the news.
Ahhhhh just another day in the little 10th world of Hawaii Nei.
What do you mean “Why is this not news . . .”? It’s in the bloody newspaper for the second time (first time was a front page story on a Sunday, the biggest circulation day of the week).
I call this fraudulent receipt of federal money, namely our tax dollars.
“The letters came under fire recently because they did not include any details of the alleged abuse — an omission that critics said violated child welfare laws.”>>> So, the next question is – How come Hawaii did not know that? Who was responsible FOR knowing that? And he’s being fired, when? Indicative of much bigger problems and lack of knowledge about one’s job.
Hawaii agencies rarely have a grasp on the concept of due process and this is just another example.
Another day another story about this state’s INCOMPETENT workers or officials, City/State does not matter. WILL IT EVER STOP ??
Happened to a friend of mine… Kid fell off a swing at school and was hurt. At a birthday party at a friends house the kid slips at the swimming pool and is hurt again. At baseball practice, the kid is hurt again… all within a few months. DHS investigates parents for child abuse and starts legal action to remove kid from parents. Makes you wonder.
It was 25 years ago…On the very first day of Kindergarten at the young age of 5, my daughter fell from the jungle gym at school and sustained a severe sprain to her left wrist that BRUISED like the dickens! I was called to the school and “rushed” her to the emergency room at Kapiolani W&C Center. While she was being treated in another room, the attendants asked me what happened and in my “panicked” state of mind – I totally blanked; I repeated several times that I didn’t know how exactly she got hurt. The police were called and just as they were about to question me, the doctor on-call came in the room with my daughter and and seeing how NUTZ I was, my daughter calmly asked me for the note from the school’s nurse. Everyone SIGHED and asked why I didn’t give them the note from school when I checked her in? ‘Til today, IDK! My children are so very precious to me and all I could think of was “my poor baby” being hurt. True story – really!
Good one.
CAPTA, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, was implemented in 1974, to provide federal funding for child welfare departments.
This section, added in 2003, reads that the Governor must sign off on these provisions: Section 106,(b)(2)(B)(xviii) provisions and procedures to require that a representative of the child protective services agency shall, at the initial time of contact with the individual subject to a child abuse or neglect investigation, advise the individual of the complaints or allegations made against the individual, in a manner that is consistent with laws protecting the rights of the informant
There is no reason for any child welfare department to not be aware of this Act or its amendments over the years.