Economic Security and Equity for Children

Contracted Infant & Toddler Slots Pilot Program

HB502 / SB311

Presently, infant and toddler settings are among the most in demand with waitlists (37 children for every center seat according to 2017 Hawai'i Early Learning Needs Assessment). Additionally, with rapid pre-k expansion on the horizon, there is a need to stabilize this part of the sector since it is often hit hardest when other states have expanded pre-k rapidly.

Simultaneously, there is a need to pilot mechanisms and processes that allow the Department of Human Services (DHS) – or other state agency – the ability to contract with providers directly. This mechanism is used in other states to support pre-kindergarten expansion. A provider is paid monthly to care for a child eligible for subsidized care. If there is no child, they are paid to keep the spot open. This allows stability for the provider and ensures care for some of the families facing the greatest barriers to care.

Piloting the program allows DHS to innovate and problem-solve this process that can benefit the entire continuum of early childhood care and education. Focusing first on infants and toddlers will help stabilize a segment of the sector that is most vulnerable with the impending pre-k expansion.

Leads: Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network Speaks! / Hawaiʻi Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance (HECAA)

End Taxes on Diapers

HB855

Ending taxes on diapers will provide immediate relief to families statewide. This basic essential is expensive. The average low-income family spends $1,000 a year per child on diapers. There is currently no governmental assistance available to help the 1 in 3 families struggling to provide enough diapers to keep their child(ren) clean, dry, and healthy. Ending taxes on diapers will combat economic hardship and help reduce the high levels of stress caregivers experience when they are forced to choose between providing enough diapers and providing other necessities for their families.

Lead: Hawaiʻi Diaper Bank

Infant & Toddler Child Care Workforce Wage Supplement

HB391, HB547 / SB312

There is a documented need to increase early childhood care and education (ECE) professionals’ wages to recruit and retain the workforce. Other states have begun programs that provide public funding to supplement wages. Going from no supplement program to providing supplements for all or many ECE professionals will take time and a pilot can assist in the innovation and adjustments needed for success.

To pilot the program, we will need to focus on a small portion of the child care workforce. We are proposing the pilot be limited to child care workers who are caring for and educating children 6 weeks to 35 months old. This has the dual effect of identifying a small enough segment to pilot successfully and beginning work to stabilize the infant and toddler segment of the birth-to-5 continuum of care and education, which are among the lowest paid in the sector. This will also help buffer this segment during expected pre-k expansion. In other states, rapid pre-k expansion has had a negative impact on infant and toddler providers (and thus families with the youngest children). Finally, increasing child care wages overall is necessary for expansion across the entire birth-to-5 continuum of care and education. A successful pilot will allow the state to scale compensation supports, which lends to more successful pre-k expansion.

Leads: Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network Speaks! / Hawaiʻi Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance (HECAA)

Paid Family Leave

HB236 / SB360

Paid Family Leave provides wage replacement (a percentage of one’s income) to eligible workers when they take time off of work to care for a seriously ill family member or themselves or to bond with a new child. Paid family leave boosts families' economic security, the healthy development of children, employee retention and productivity, and labor force participation. The United States is the only developed country without national paid family leave. Fourteen states plus the District of Columbia currently offer paid family leave.

Leads: Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network Speaks! / Working Families Coalition

Pre-K to 12 Education

Child Care Provider Accreditation Supports Program

HB261, HB583 / SB239

Acts 46 (2020) and 210 (2021) envisioned an expanded Preschool Open Doors program to help the state achieve universal access to early childhood care and education for 3- and 4-year-olds. These acts combined require providers who participate in Preschool Open Doors to be accredited or to begin the accreditation process in the next two years. Accreditations – in its varied forms – are often seen as a marker of quality to drive enrollment. As much as many providers would like to be accredited, the process is lengthy and costly both in fees and costs associated. Smaller centers and family child care homes face significant barriers to achieving accreditation, even if they meet the quality standards. This proposal would provide financial support for fees and technical and other necessary assistance to achieve accreditation. This supports the State's push for universal access to pre-kindergarten education and ensures centers and family child care homes can access accreditation processes.

Leads: Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network Speaks! / Hawaiʻi Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance (HECAA)

Expanding Public Preschools at Our Elementary Schools (including public charter schools)

HB549 / SB1222

The most cost-effective way to increase access to preschool for our general public is to expand free public preschool at our elementary schools (including our public charter schools). So many of our families cannot afford private preschools, and they deserve to have access to free preschool for their keiki. We want to provide this access at our public elementary schools that are located in every neighborhood.

Lead: Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association

School Psychologist Credential

HB1116 / SB958

The state of Hawaiʻi remains the only state in the nation without credentialing requirements for School Psychologists. Without these requirements, professionals from other subfields of psychology, who do not have the appropriate training as outlined by the National Association of School Psychologists, can be employed by the Hawaiʻi Department of Education as a School Psychologist. Individuals working as School Psychologists without proper training leave keiki vulnerable to malpractice, including inappropriate placement in special education and less due process protections. These negative outcomes disproportionately impact minoritized keiki.

Lead: Hawaiʻi Association of School Psychologists

Health and Wellness for Children

Banning the Sale of Flavored Tobacco

HB551 / SB496

Hawaiʻi is in the midst of a youth vaping epidemic, with one of the highest youth vaping rates in the country. Roughly one in five Hawaiʻi middle schoolers and one in three Hawaiʻi high schoolers currently use vaping products. Further, 81 percent of youth who have used tobacco started with a flavored product and over half of youth smokers use menthol cigarettes. This bill would end the sale of flavored tobacco products in Hawaiʻi, including menthol-flavored cigarettes and vapes.

Lead: Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute

Child Safety and Welfare

Erin’s Law

HB548 / SB308

Erin's Law mandates that the Hawaiʻi Department of Education provide sexual abuse education to all students (K-12), educators and parents/guardians. The importance of the legislation is to increase awareness on sexual violence, increase disclosures by students who may be suffering from sexual abuse, provide educators with the proper tools to recognize sexual abuse and how to respond to disclosures and provide parents/guardians with sexual abuse information so they too are better positioned to recognize abuse and respond appropriately.

The research is clear that delayed disclosure is common among children. Disclosure typically occurs when the child feels safe and confident that disclosure will not bring more harm. Teachers and other school personnel are often the trusted adult to which children reveal and report sexual abuse. They need to understand how to respond appropriately and how to recognize signs that a child is being sexually abused. Youth voted for this as the top priority for legislative action among the recommendations from the 2022 Hawaiʻi Children and Youth Summit.

Leads: The Sex Abuse Treatment Center / Parents And Children Together / Hawaiʻi Youth Services Network

4th Amendment Rights / Miranda Notification of Parent Rights

SB1042

This bill clarifies compliance with 4th Amendment rights by Child Welfare Services (CWS) when investigating a report of abuse or removing a child to out-of-home placement. CWS admits to having no warrant training. Unnecessary child removals artificially overloads the system that puts pressure on workers to properly license foster caregivers and perform the federally required monthly home checks to monitor the safety of foster children. Requires a CWS investigator to provide written notice to parents prior to an investigative interview.

Lead: Hawaiʻi Coalition for Child Protective Reform

Malama ‘Ohana

HB330 / SB295

We are proposing a working group through the Hawaiʻi Office of Resilience and Wellness to hold listening sessions throughout the state and have community partners work together to improve and transform the child welfare system. This is a lofty goal but it comes from four years of work in the network Nā Kama a Hāloa, a network of more than 30 individuals and organizations working to improve outcomes for native Hawaiian children in the child welfare system. This work is badly needed to find ways to collaborate better between state and community at a time when Child Welfare Services is under intense criticism.

Lead: EPIC ‘Ohana

Mandatory Domestic Violence Training for Custody Evaluators and Fact Finders

HB581 / SB237

This measure would require custody evaluators and fact finders to take a minimum of 5 hours of domestic violence training before they can be added to the list of custody evaluators at the Judiciary, and a requirement for continuing education units. When a custody evaluator does not understand the dynamics of domestic violence, power and control tactics, and the impact on children, they make custody recommendations that are detrimental to the children and survivors themselves.

Lead: Hawaiʻi State Coalition Against Domestic Violence

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About HCAN Speaks!

Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network Speaks! (HCAN Speaks!) is a nonpartisan 501(c)4 nonprofit. Our movement is fighting to ensure all keiki are healthy, safe, and ready to learn. HCAN Speaks! gives you the tools you need to make informed voting decisions, hold leaders accountable, and change systems and policies.