During a news conference Friday at the State Capitol, Lt. Gov. James R. "Duke" Aiona Jr. congratulated DHS for receiving the prestigious award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. DHS is one of 15 recipients of a 2007 Adoption Excellence Award and one of only two honorees in the category of Child Welfare System Improvement.

"This success is due in large part to a much closer collaboration among the Department of Human Services, the Family Court, the University of Hawai'i and community and faith-based organizations," Aiona said. "We will continue to develop public-private partnerships and innovative solutions to meet the needs of Hawai'i foster children, while encouraging stronger family and community support to help these children succeed. Everyone needs a loving, permanent home."

As evidence of this progress, the award points out that Hawai'i had an annual baseline of 150 adoptions in the 1997 federal fiscal year. By 2005, that number increased nearly threefold to 431 adoptions.

Human Services Director Lillian Koller credited her staff in the Child Welfare Services Branch for completing an aggressive series of reforms over the past several years that significantly improved the safety, well-being and stability of children in state care.

"Since 2003, our employees worked closely with the federal government as part of its nationwide Child and Family Services Review," Koller said. "Together, we developed a highly detailed Program Improvement Plan that incorporates widely accepted best practices. With the help of our partners, we succeeded in carrying out these far-reaching improvements to advance Hawaii's foster care system."

These program enhancements include:

i Contracting with Partners In Development Foundation to create Hui Ho'omalu, a consortium of social service agencies dedicated to helping foster children and the families that care for them. These organizations include Catholic Charities of Hawai'i, Foster Family Programs of Hawaii, EPIC 'Ohana Conferencing, Heart Gallery Hawai'i and HOPE INC.

i More than doubling financial support for community-based family services — including parenting classes, counseling and legal assistance — by maximizing federal revenue and optimizing resources.

i Addressing the disproportionality of Native Hawaiian children in foster care by increasing recruitment, training and support of Hawaiian resource families.

i Using a Federal incentive bonus to promote adoptions of harder-to-place foster children, including those with special needs, sibling groups and older youth.

i Collaborating with the University of Hawai'i School of Social Work to develop a Child Welfare Services Training Academy.

i Implementing a comprehensive quality assurance system that engages community stakeholders with DHS staff to interview clients and conduct case reviews.

i Maintaining healthy family connections for foster children by locating members of their extended families.