(a) The following factors shall be fully considered when determining whether a child‘s family is willing and able to provide the child with a safe family home:

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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-7

  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Safe family home factors: means a list of criteria that must be considered in determining whether a parent is able to provide a safe family home as set out herein in § 587A-7. 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
(1) Facts relating to the child’s current situation, which shall include:

(A) The child’s age, vulnerability, and special needs that affect the child’s attachment, growth, and development;
(B) The child’s developmental, psychological, medical, and dental health status and needs, including the names of assessment and treatment providers;
(C) The child’s peer and family relationships and bonding abilities;
(D) The child’s educational status and setting, and the department‘s efforts to maintain educational stability for the child in out-of-home placement;
(E) The child’s living situation;
(F) The child’s fear of being in the family home;
(G) The impact of out-of-home placement on the child;
(H) Services provided to the child and family; and
(I) The department’s efforts to maintain connections between the child and the child’s siblings, if they are living in different homes;
(2) The initial and any subsequent reports of harm and threatened harm to the child;
(3) Dates and reasons for the child’s out-of-home placement; description, appropriateness, and location of the placement; and who has placement responsibility;
(4) Facts regarding the alleged perpetrators of harm to the child, the child’s parents, and other family members who are parties to the court proceedings, which facts shall include:

(A) Birthplace and family of origin;
(B) Manner in which the alleged perpetrator of harm was parented;
(C) Marital and relationship history; and
(D) Prior involvement in services;
(5) Results of psychiatric, psychological, or developmental evaluations of the child, the alleged perpetrators, and other family members who are parties;
(6) Whether there is a history of abusive or assaultive conduct by the child’s family members and others who have access to the family home;
(7) Whether there is a history of substance abuse by the child’s family or others who have access to the family home;
(8) Whether any alleged perpetrator has completed services in relation to any history identified in paragraphs (6) and (7), and acknowledged and accepted responsibility for the harm to the child;
(9) Whether any non-perpetrator who resides in the family home has demonstrated an ability to protect the child from further harm and to ensure that any current protective orders are enforced;
(10) Whether there is a support system available to the child’s family, including adoptive and hanai relatives, friends, and faith-based or other community networks;
(11) Attempts to locate and involve extended family, friends, and faith-based or other community networks;
(12) Whether the child’s family has demonstrated an understanding of and involvement in services that have been recommended by the department or court-ordered as necessary to provide a safe family home for the child;
(13) Whether the child’s family has resolved identified safety issues in the family home within a reasonable period of time; and
(14) The department’s assessment, which shall include the demonstrated ability of the child’s family to provide a safe family home for the child, and recommendations.
(b) The court shall consider the likelihood that the current situation presented in the safe family home factors set forth in subsection (a) will continue in the reasonably foreseeable future.

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