Posted at 3:50 p.m., Thursday, January 24, 2008
Child welfare officials to share records with police
Advertiser Staff
The Department of Human Services has announced plans to give the Honolulu Police Department direct access to internal records from the child welfare system, a news release said.DHS is also offering to provide computers, software and training for police officers to help with their risk assessments when officers encounter possible cases of child abuse or neglect.
"The murder of toddler Cyrus Belt horrified the people of Hawai'i and dramatically underscored the importance of protecting our children from harm," DHS Director Lillian Koller said in the release. "By creating a closer working relationship between our State agency and the County police departments, we can collectively make better informed decisions about whether or not to place a child in emergency foster care.
"We will never know if sharing our confidential files could have saved the life of Cyrus, but heightened communication between first responders and DHS staff can certainly prevent future tragedies," Koller added.
The goal is to provide law enforcement with all child welfare records that could prove useful when police officers respond to calls. Officers can also receive information by contacting the DHS Child Abuse Reporting hotline at 832-5300.
