SB1398 directs the Office of Wellness and Resilience to work with the Department of Human Services to create and carry out a trauma-informed care organizational assessment and training program for the Child Welfare Services Branch. The bill is aimed at improving how the branch serves children and families who have experienced trauma, while also addressing staff well-being by considering vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout.
The program must include evidence-based assessment tools, a branch-wide trauma-informed curriculum, mentor training, supervisor training, ongoing technical assistance, and consultation from a child welfare expert. The bill also appropriates general funds for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 to support implementation, whether the work is done directly by the Office of Wellness and Resilience or through a contract. The measure is currently set to take effect on December 31, 2050, a delayed effective date that is often used as a placeholder in Hawaii legislation.
Impact
If enacted, SB1398 would create a new state-directed trauma-informed assessment and training initiative within Hawaii’s child welfare system and would require coordination between the Office of Wellness and Resilience and DHS. It would not broadly rewrite child welfare statutes, but it would add a specific programmatic mandate and an appropriation tied to the Child Welfare Services Branch, affecting agency operations, staff training requirements, and the use of state general funds.
Sentiment
The available legislative history suggests generally favorable support for the bill. It passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee unanimously, 4-0, with amendments, and was reported out for further consideration. The bill’s findings and purpose language frame the measure as a response to documented needs in the child welfare system and to recommendations from the malama ohana working group.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive opposition in the available record, but the bill’s main practical questions appear to be implementation and funding. The measure requires evidence-based assessments, specialized training, and technical assistance, which may raise concerns about administrative capacity, contractor selection, and the size of the appropriation. The delayed effective date also suggests the bill may still be in a drafting or placeholder stage rather than ready for immediate implementation.
A resolution to direct the Clerk of the House of Representatives to only present to the Governor enrolled House bills finally passed by both houses of the One Hundred Third Legislature.
Relating to nonsubstantive additions to, revisions of, and corrections in enacted codes, to the nonsubstantive codification or disposition of various laws omitted from enacted codes, and to conforming codifications enacted by the 88th Legislature to other Acts of that legislature.