Bill puts child safety
over family unityFour-year-old Reubyne Buentipo Jr.,
By Craig Gima
beaten into a coma, inspired the reform
Star-BulletinHouse and Senate conferees expected today to agree on an omnibus Child Protective Services reform bill that would make the safety of a child the priority over reunification of a family.
The measure addresses several issues raised by the severe beating of Reubyne Buentipo Jr. last summer just months after Family Court returned the 4-year-old to his mother, Kimberly Pada. She is now facing attempted murder charges, and Reubyne is in a coma and will probably never regain consciousness.
"The basic emphasis is that safety does come first over reunification concerns," said Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland (D, Liliha)
The Family Court judge presiding over the Buentipo case did not see the evaluation of a multidisciplinary team and police did not inform social workers of their investigation into reports of child abuse in the months before the Aug. 31 beating.
The bill would require that the Family Court see all reports on a case instead of just the recommendation of a social worker.
It would also require that police and the Department of Human Services work out a system to share information on child abuse cases.
The measure would set up peer review panels, similar to the peer review doctors undergo, to evaluate reunification decisions in cases of serious reabuse of a child.
The state returned Buentipo to his mother despite several instances of abuse.
"The review panel is not meant to be a part of the decision-making process but to review decisions already made," said Rep. Dennis Arakaki (D, Kalihi Valley), chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee.
According to Department of Human Services statistics, Child Protective Services investigated about 226 cases of reabuse in 1996 or about 9 percent of the 2,514 cases of abuse or neglect reported in 1995.
Arakaki said the bill also might have helped in the recent case of 6-year-old Peter Kema Jr. Kema was returned to his parents in 1995 but is now missing.
His father said he gave the boy to a woman in Aala Park.
"Probably the case of Peter Kema Jr. is a real, unusual case, but somebody should have been monitoring the child," Arakaki said.
He said it is "very troubling" that the Department of Human Services is not answering questions about its handling of the Kema case.
House, Senate near
By Pat Omandam
ditch compromise
Star-BulletinTime is running out for Waiahole taro farmer Charlie Reppun and other opponents of a bill to buy the Waiahole Ditch.
"I was supposed to be home pulling taro, but we know how the system works," Reppun said yesterday. "All we can do is keep lobbying and trying to get the bill either killed or changed."
House and Senate conferees tomorrow meet again on Waiahole, this time to likely agree on a draft that spells out the state's purchase of the water system.
Lawmakers must decide on the critical details of the plan: How the state would pay the $10.2 million to buy, operate and fix the system, and what state agency would be left to run it.
The Senate has taken a position that the Agribusiness Development Corp. should be in charge.
The state agency was set up to help Hawaii make the transition from sugar to diversified agriculture, said Sen. Brian Taniguchi (D, Manoa).
The House, however, has proposed the Board of Agriculture as the ditch operator. State Rep. Merwyn S. Jones (Makaha-Waianae) said the House's plan is to avoid another layer of bureaucracy, since the development corporation reports to the Board of Agriculture for final approval.
"What we're saying is, 'Let's eliminate one board,'" Jones said.
Key to who runs the ditch is a government reorganization bill that decides whether the Agribusiness Development Corp. is eliminated, as proposed by Gov. Ben Cayetano and favored by the House. The Senate has kept the agency as a separate entity in that bill, which is in conference debate.
Lawmakers have proposed paying Amfac/JMB Hawaii, the owners of the ditch, $10.2 million in special revenue bonds to be paid back through water usage fees. Along with the system, the state would "grandfather in" the seven employees of Waiahole Ditch Co. -- a superintendent and maintenance workers -- as state employees.
The Legislature's reason to buy the ditch is to ensure future agriculture on the Leeward plain. Jones added lawmakers haven't ignored Windward interests.
The pending purchase doesn't bother Reppun as much as the state's urgency to do so, especially after the water commission showed it could resolve water use disputes without state involvement, he said.
Hawaiian healing bill
By Pat Omandam
draws little objection
Star-BulletinSenate conferees raised little objection to changes to a Senate bill that exempts traditional native Hawaiian healing from state law that bans the practice of medicine without a license.
Senate Bill 1946, SD1, HD2 would grant a two-year exemption to traditional Hawaiian healing practices from the law to ensure the art of Hawaiian healing is passed onto the next generation.
Eleven years ago, there were 27 kahuna masters of traditional healing. Today, there are 17 masters alive, most in their 70s or 80s, according to testimony on the bill from Dr. Terry Shintani, president of the Hawaii Health Foundation.
Sen. David Y. Ige (D, Pearl City), during a conference committee yesterday, said the Senate's main concern in the House draft is to ensure those certified as traditional healers are actually qualified for this alternative form of health care.
The Senate, Ige said, will review the changes and report back to the committee later this week.
The bill calls for a panel of traditional Hawaiian healers to certify those trained in the practice of la'au lapa'au (herbal healing), la'au kahea (spiritual healing), lomi lomi (massage) and ho'oponopono (conflict resolution) as well as other healing arts.
The exemption would allow these traditional healers -- under the coordination of Papa Ola Lokahi, which oversees the Native Hawaiian Health Care System -- to practice and teach their medicine until July 1, 2000, after which Papa Ola Lokahi must report back to the state Legislature on recommended legislation. The House removed an earlier provision limiting the practice only to those of Hawaiian blood and used the federal definition of native traditional healing in its draft.
LEGISLATURE UPDATE
A calendar of tomorrow's hearings -- to be held at the state Capitol, 415 S. Beretania St., unless noted:
HOUSE
None scheduled.
SENATE
CONFERENCE
