Hawaii Senator Says Changes Are Needed To Curb ‘Illegal, Knee-Jerk’ Child Abuse Investigations 0 Sen. Joy San Buenaventura is considering writing a bill that would likely reduce the number of children taken from their parents without a court order.
A Hawaii state senator says she is prepared to introduce legislation to assure that child welfare workers routinely seek court orders before removing children from their parents.
Sen. Joy San Buenaventura said the bill would address the findings of a Civil Beat investigation published in September. The story found that in more than 90% of cases of children being taken from their parents after abuse or neglect allegations, police and social workers act on their own without first getting an order from a judge.
This is in stark contrast to many other jurisdictions, where a judge’s approval before the potentially traumatic removal of a child is far more common.
