(a) When a petition has been filed, the court shall conduct a return hearing within fifteen days of:

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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-28

  • Aggravated circumstances: means that:

    (1) The parent has murdered, or has solicited, aided, abetted, attempted, or conspired to commit the murder or voluntary manslaughter of, another child of the parent;
    (2) The parent has committed a felony assault that results in serious bodily injury to the child or another child of the parent;
    (3) The parent's rights regarding a sibling of the child have been judicially terminated or divested;
    (4) The parent has tortured the child;
    (5) The child is an abandoned infant;
    (6) The parent has committed sexual abuse against another child of the parent; or
    (7) The parent is required, to register with a sex offender registry under section 113 (a) of the Adam Walsh Child-Protection and Safety Act of 2006, title 42 United States Code § 16913(a). See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • birth: as used in this chapter , is interchangeable with the term "natural" as that term is used in chapter 578. 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
  • Date of entry into foster care: means the date a child was first placed in foster custody by the court or sixty days after the child's actual removal from the home, whichever is earlier. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Default: means the status found by the court when a party who has been properly served or notified of a scheduled hearing fails to appear at court for the hearing or fails to plead or otherwise defend, thereby allowing the court to proceed without the absent party. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Department: means the department of human services and its authorized representatives. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Service plan: means a specific, comprehensive written plan prepared by an authorized agency pursuant to § 587A-27. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 587A-4
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • Termination of parental rights: means the severance of parental rights. 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) The filing of the petition; or
(2) The date a decision is announced by the court during a temporary foster custody hearing.
(b) At the return hearing, if it is established that a party required to be notified has not been served prior to the hearing, the court shall:

(1) Order the method of service of summons that the court deems to be appropriate, based upon the available information; and
(2) Set a continued return hearing and:

(A) May waive the appearance of any party at the continued return hearing; and
(B) If service of summons is ordered to be made by mail or publication, shall set the continued return hearing no less than twenty-one days after the date of service as evidenced by the signature of the recipient on a return receipt or the date of the last publication.
(c) At a continued return hearing, the court shall:

(1) Enter the default of the party who was served but failed to appear at the continued return hearing;
(2) Order the party who was served to appear on the date of the next scheduled hearing in the case; or
(3) Set a hearing on the oral motion to vacate prior orders, if a party appears at the hearing and moves the court to vacate or modify prior orders. The moving party shall file a written motion and serve the other parties with proper written notice of the motion and the hearing date.
(d) At the return hearing, the court shall decide:

(1) Whether the child‘s physical or psychological health or welfare has been harmed or is subject to threatened harm by the acts or omissions of the child’s family;
(2) Whether the child should be placed in foster custody or under family supervision; and
(3) What services should be provided to the child’s parents.
(e) If the court finds that the child’s physical or psychological health or welfare has been harmed or is subject to threatened harm by the acts or omissions of the child’s family, the court:

(1) Shall enter a finding that the court has jurisdiction pursuant to § 587A-5;
(2) Shall enter a finding regarding whether, before the child was placed in foster care, the department made reasonable efforts to prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child from the child’s family home;
(3) Shall enter orders:

(A) That the child be placed in foster custody if the court finds that the child’s remaining in the family home is contrary to the welfare of the child and the child’s parents are not willing and able to provide a safe family home for the child, even with the assistance of a service plan; or
(B) That the child be placed in family supervision if the court finds that the child’s parents are willing and able to provide the child with a safe family home with the assistance of a service plan;
(4) Shall determine whether aggravated circumstances are present.

(A) If aggravated circumstances are present, the court shall:

(i) Conduct a permanency hearing within thirty days, and the department shall not be required to provide the child’s parents with an interim service plan or interim visitation; and
(ii) Order the department to file, within sixty days after the court’s finding that aggravated circumstances are present, a motion to terminate parental rights unless the department has documented in the safe family home factors or other written report submitted to the court a compelling reason why it is not in the best interest of the child to file a motion.
(B) If aggravated circumstances are not present or there is a compelling reason why it is not in the best interest of the child to file a motion to terminate parental rights, the court shall order that the department make reasonable efforts to reunify the child with the child’s parents and order an appropriate service plan;
(5) Shall order reasonable supervised or unsupervised visits for the child and the child’s family, including with the child’s siblings, unless such visits are determined to be unsafe or detrimental to, and not in the best interests of, the child;
(6) Shall order each of the child’s birth parents to complete the medical information forms and release the medical information required under section 578-14.5, to the department. If the child’s birth parents refuse to complete the forms or to release the information, the court may order the release of the information over the parents’ objections;
(7) Shall determine whether each party understands that unless the family is willing and able to provide the child with a safe family home, even with the assistance of a service plan, within the reasonable period of time specified in the service plan, their respective parental and custodial duties and rights shall be subject to termination;
(8) Shall determine the child’s date of entry into foster care as defined in this chapter;
(9) Shall set a periodic review hearing to be conducted no later than six months after the date of entry into foster care and a permanency hearing to be held no later than twelve months after the date of entry into foster care;
(10) Shall set a status conference, as the court deems appropriate, to be conducted no later than ninety days after the return hearing; and
(11) May order that:

(A) Any party participate in, complete, be liable for, and make every good faith effort to arrange payment for such services or treatment as are authorized by law and that are determined to be in the child’s best interests;
(B) The child be examined by a physician, surgeon, psychiatrist, or psychologist; and
(C) The child receive treatment, including hospitalization or placement in other suitable facilities, as is determined to be in the child’s best interests.
(f) If the court finds that the child’s physical or psychological health or welfare has not been harmed or subjected to threatened harm by the acts or omissions of the child’s family, the court shall enter an order to dismiss the petition and shall state the grounds for dismissal.
(g) Nothing in this section shall prevent the court from setting a termination of parental rights hearing at any time the court deems appropriate.

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