Law lets caregivers enroll kids in school
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Grandparents and other relatives who care for children but are not their legal guardians will now be able to enroll them in school and other activities, under a bill signed into law yesterday by Gov. Linda Lingle.
Advertiser library photo
The new law allows a caregiver whom the child has been living with for at least six months to execute an affidavit of "caregiver consent" to enroll the child in school and allow the child to participate in curricular and co-curricular activities. The affidavit would not give the caregiver legal custody of the child, nor affect the rights of the child's parent or legal guardian.
Gov. Linda Lingle has signed a law that allows caregivers to enroll children.
Supporters of the bill said grandparents and other relatives who care for a child often face difficulties in enrolling the child in school because they are not the child's legal guardian. Such caregivers also cannot give permission for the child to participate in school activities, they said.
Annabel Murray, managing attorney of the Na Keiki Law Center, called the new law an important initial step and said that as the center gathered information from grandparents and relatives "we realized very very quickly that the hanai system needed to be supported by statute."
Murray said the center has had calls from grandparents and other relatives saying that the children they are caring for haven't been in school for months or even as much as a year because they could not enroll them.
Other bills Lingle signed:
- Makes permanent the current composition of the Agribusiness Development Corporation Board, which coordinates the transition and development of Hawai'i's agricultural industry from a dual-crop industry to a diversified, multi-crop and animal industry.
- Allows certain agricultural lands leased or available to be leased by the Department of Land and Natural Resources to be transferred to and managed by the Department of Agriculture.
- Transfers the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawai'i from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to the state Department of Human Services.
