(a) Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the department or other authorized agencies shall file written reports with the court:

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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-18

  • 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
  • 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
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • 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
  • Permanent plan: means a specific, comprehensive written plan prepared pursuant to § 587A-32. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Service plan: means a specific, comprehensive written plan prepared by an authorized agency pursuant to § 587A-27. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Termination of parental rights: means the severance of parental rights. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
(1) Concurrent with the filing of a petition invoking the jurisdiction of the court under this chapter; and
(2) No less than fifteen days before a scheduled return hearing, periodic review hearing, permanency hearing, or termination of parental rights hearing; provided that additional information may be submitted to the court up to the date of the hearing; provided that the department or other authorized agencies make a good cause showing that such additional information was not available to the department or other authorized agency before the fifteen day deadline.
(b) The reports shall include:

(1) An assessment of each safe family home factor and the family’s progress with recommended or court-ordered services;
(2) A recommended service plan or permanent plan that references the pertinent safe family home factors; and
(3) A recommendation documenting the basis for any other orders, including protective orders.
(c) The department or other authorized agencies shall submit to the court each report, in its entirety, pertaining to the child or the child’s family that has been prepared by a child protective services multidisciplinary team or consultant.
(d) A written report submitted pursuant to this section shall be admissible and relied upon to the extent of its probative value in any proceeding under this chapter, subject to the right of any party to examine or cross-examine the preparer of the report.