(a) When the department assumes temporary foster custody of a child and files a petition pursuant to this chapter, the court shall conduct a temporary foster custody hearing within two days after the petition is filed, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. The purpose of a temporary foster custody hearing is to determine whether a child’s safety continues to require protection prior to an adjudicatory determination at a return hearing.
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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-26

  • Authorized agency: means the department, other public agency, or a person or organization that is licensed by the department or approved by the court to receive children for control, care, maintenance, or placement. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Child: means a person who is born alive and is less than eighteen years of age. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Court: means one of the family courts established pursuant to chapter 571. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Criminal history record check: means an examination of an individual's criminal history through fingerprint analysis or name inquiry into state and national criminal history records and files, including the files of the Hawaii criminal justice data center. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Department: means the department of human services and its authorized representatives. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Family: means each legal parent of a child; the birthing parent, unless the child has been legally adopted; the concerned non-birthing parent as provided in section 578-2(a)(5), unless the child has been legally adopted; each parent's spouse or former spouse; each sibling or person related by blood or marriage; each person residing in the dwelling unit; and any other person or legal entity with:

    (1) Legal or physical custody or guardianship of the child, or
    (2) Responsibility for the child's care. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Family home: means the home of the child's legal custodian. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Family supervision: means the legal status in which a child's legal custodian is willing and able, with the assistance of a service plan, to provide the child with a safe family home. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Foster care: means continuous twenty-four-hour care and supportive services provided for a child by an authorized agency or the court, including, the care, supervision, guidance, and rearing of a child by a resource family. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Foster custody: means the legal status created when the department places a child outside of the family home with the agreement of the legal custodian or pursuant to court order, after the court has determined that the child's family is not presently willing and able to provide the child with a safe family home, even with the assistance of a service plan. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Guardian ad litem: means any person who is appointed by the court under this chapter to protect and promote the needs and interests of a child or a party, including a court-appointed special advocate. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Harm: means damage or injury to a child's physical or psychological health or welfare, where:

    (1) The child exhibits evidence of injury, including, but not limited to:
    (A) Substantial or multiple skin bruising;
    (B) Substantial external or internal bleeding;
    (C) Burn or burns;
    (D) Malnutrition;
    (E) Failure to thrive;
    (F) Soft tissue swelling;
    (G) Extreme pain;
    (H) Extreme mental distress;
    (I) Gross degradation;
    (J) Poisoning;
    (K) Fracture of any bone;
    (L) Subdural hematoma; or
    (M) Death;

    and the injury is not justifiably explained, or the history given concerning the condition or death is not consistent with the degree or type of the condition or death, or there is evidence that the condition or death may not be the result of an accident;

    (2) The child has been the victim of sexual contact or conduct, including sexual assault; sodomy; molestation; sexual fondling; incest; prostitution; obscene or pornographic photographing, filming, or depiction; or other similar forms of sexual exploitation, including but not limited to acts that constitute an offense pursuant to section 7121202(1)(b);
    (3) The child's psychological well-being has been injured as evidenced by a substantial impairment in the child's ability to function;
    (4) The child is not provided in a timely manner with adequate food; clothing; shelter; supervision; or psychological, physical, or medical care;
    (5) The child is provided with dangerous, harmful, or detrimental drugs as defined in section 712-1240, except when a child's family administers drugs to the child as directed or prescribed by a practitioner as defined in section 712-1240; or
    (6) The child has been the victim of labor trafficking under chapter 707. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Imminent harm: means that without intervention within the next ninety days, there is reasonable cause to believe that harm to the child will occur or reoccur. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Party: means an authorized agency; a child who is subject to a proceeding under this chapter; the child's parents and guardian ad litem; any other person who is alleged in the petition or who is subsequently found at any child protective proceeding to be encouraging, causing, or contributing to the acts or conditions that brought the child within the scope of this chapter; and may include any other person, including the child's current foster parent or current resource family, if the court finds that such person's participation is in the best interest of the child; provided that the court may limit a party's right to participate in any child protective proceeding if the court deems such limitation of such party's participation to be consistent with the best interests of the child and such party is not a family member who is required to be summoned pursuant to § 587A-13, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Reasonable cause to believe: means the degree of proof that would cause a person of average caution to believe the evidence is reasonably trustworthy. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Resource family: means a person or family licensed by the department or another authorized agency to provide foster care services for children and can be used interchangeably with "foster parent" and "foster family". See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Temporary foster custody: means a legal status created under this chapter with or without a court order, whereby the department temporarily assumes the duties and rights of a foster custodian of a child. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Threatened harm: means any reasonably foreseeable substantial risk of harm to a child. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
(b) The temporary foster custody hearing may be continued for a period not to exceed fifteen days if the court determines that further investigation would be in the child’s best interests.
(c) After reviewing the petition and any reports submitted by the department and considering all information pertaining to the safe family home factors, the court shall order:

(1) That the child be immediately released from the department’s temporary foster custody, placed in temporary family supervision, and returned to the child’s family home with the assistance of services, upon finding that the child’s family is able to provide a safe family home with services; or
(2) That the child continue in the department’s temporary foster custody, upon finding that there is reasonable cause to believe that continued placement in foster care is necessary to protect the child from imminent harm; provided that in making this determination, the court shall consider whether:

(A) The department made reasonable efforts to prevent or eliminate the need for removing the child from the child’s family home before the child was placed in foster care;
(B) The alleged or potential perpetrator of imminent harm, harm, or threatened harm should be removed from the family home rather than continuing the child’s placement in foster care. The child’s family shall have the burden of establishing that it is in the child’s best interests to remove the child, rather than the alleged or potential perpetrator, from the family home; and
(C) Every reasonable effort has been or is being made to place siblings or psychologically-bonded children together, unless such placement is not in the children’s best interests.
(d) The court shall conduct a return hearing on the petition within fifteen days after the temporary foster custody hearing.
(e) The court may further order that:

(1) Any party undergo a physical, developmental, psychological, or psychiatric evaluation and that a written or oral report be submitted or communicated to the court and all parties before the next court hearing;
(2) The child’s family members who are parties provide the department or another authorized agency the names and addresses of other relatives and friends who are potential visitation supervisors or resource families for the child;
(3) The child’s family members who are parties be permitted reasonable supervised or unsupervised visitation with the child at the discretion of the child’s guardian ad litem, the department, or another authorized agency;
(4) The court and the parties view a video or listen to an audio recording of the child’s statements at such time and in such manner as the court deems appropriate;
(5) A criminal history record check be conducted by the department or another authorized agency on a party who is an alleged or potential perpetrator of imminent harm, harm, or threatened harm to the child;
(6) A protective order be entered;
(7) The department or another authorized agency prepare a written supplemental report;
(8) The child’s guardian ad litem visit the child’s family home and resource family home, be present during supervised visitation, and prepare a written report that includes specific recommendations concerning services and assistance to the family; and
(9) Any other orders be entered that the court deems necessary and in the best interests of the child.
(f) Any party may file a motion requesting, or the court may order sua sponte, a temporary foster custody hearing or rehearing at any time after a petition is filed, to determine whether the child should be placed in temporary foster custody to ensure the child’s safety pending a scheduled return hearing.

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