As a society, there really is nothing more important than protecting and caring for the most vulnerable among us — and that means our keiki and kupuna. Recent local cases have exposed the horror, and tragedy, of keiki who have fallen through the societal cracks; clearly, we must do better, from prevention to intervention.
That’s why it’s encouraging that most of the 16 bills signed into law on Monday aim to improve child well-being, and launch new initiatives targeting issues that will grow as Hawaii’s “silver tsunami” swells.
For the keiki, the new laws include:
>> Senate Bill 2475, now Act 156, establishing a “harm to students” registry to prevent school employees, contractors or volunteers who have harmed students from gaining employment in schools. This overdue centralized database, to span Hawaii’s public and private schools, closes a loophole that had allowed predators without criminal convictions to circulate undetected and land jobs at different schools, enabling continued harm and abuse of minors.
“This has been a very big deal,” Gov. Josh Green said Monday, “because we’re worried about individuals that could inflict harm against our students.”
>> Also addressing teacher-student harm is House Bill 2400 (Act 157), requiring teachers who resign or retire during an investigation of sex assault, harassment or physical abuse allegations, to forfeit their teaching licenses; this forfeiture is reported to the
National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, closing a loophole that allowed such teachers to continue teaching elsewhere.
>> SB 2245 (Act 144), which strengthens and clarifies procedures for removing children from unsafe homes, effective July 2025. It adds a new definition under the Child Protective Act for “exigent circumstances” and modifies the definitions of “harm” and “imminent harm.” The new law clarifies when police may take protective custody of a child and when the Department of Human Services may assume temporary foster custody of a child when exigent circumstances are present. The goal here is for immediate government action to ensure safety of the child, while recognizing due process rights of the child’s legal guardians.
It is undeniable that the state’s child welfare system urgently needs improvement, as revealed in heinous cases over recent years: Ariel Sellers, aka Isabella Kalua, 6, of Waimanalo; and Geanna Bradley, 10, of Wahiawa, to name just two young victims of fatal abuse.
>> Meanwhile, HB 470 (Act 145) now allows vetted service providers to temporarily take in unsheltered and adrift youths, giving them safe harbor without requiring consent from parents or guardians. The vetted providers are shielded from liability for services, while at-risk youths can get shelter and support as an alternative to foster home placement.
Perhaps less dire than safe harbor, but also crucial to children’s well-being is access to food and nutrition. So it’s worthy that HB 2430 (Act 155) adds $2 million in state money to a federally funded program, called Summer EBT or SUN Bucks, to leverage dollars to help feed public school students in low-income households.
As for kupuna support, two new initiatives bear watching:
>> SB 2305 (Act 158) creates a Silver Alert Program within the Department of Law Enforcement to immediately signal help in locating missing persons ages 65 or older, who are cognitively impaired or otherwise disabled. Silver Alert recognizes that Hawaii’s aging demographic will lead to more lost kupuna due to brain disorders. “Alzheimer’s disease affects 29,000 people aged 65 and older in Hawaii, making it a growing health crisis,” noted one testifier in support of SB 2305. And this concerning statistic, as noted by another: 6 in 10 people with dementia will wander off at some point.
>> HB 2224 (Act 159) requires creation of a state comprehensive long-term care plan — to inform policy goals that ensure availability of a full continuum of institutional and community-based services for Hawaii’s growing elderly population, with an emphasis on home-based care.
Indeed, all of these new laws are important tools and policies to improve the status quo. But remember, laws and policies are only as good as the people who administer them — and they’re effective only when a community is vigilant enough to detect a keiki or kupuna in trouble.
