08-03-2025
CAPTA report released: Only two out of five abuse cases on Child Welfare Services' radar last year
HONOLULU (KHON2) — The State Department of Human Services' 'Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act,' or CAPTA, report shows five children died last year due to child abuse. Only two of them were on the Child Welfare Service's radar.
Among them, 3-year-old Sarai Perez Riviera, whose family, according to the report, received child welfare services. Her mother and mother's girlfriend have been charged with murder.
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State Representative Lisa Marten has introduced several bills aimed at strengthening child abuse prevention efforts. Marten, along with the Malama Ohana Working Group, is pushing for reforms including more funding and improved training for case workers. But Marten says a solution lies much deeper.
'We have far too many of these tragic incidents and we know there's a lot of abuse going on that does not make the news and we don't know about it. And what we have to do is break the cycle of abuse,' Marten said.
Attorney Randall Rosenberg, who represents the families of Isabella Kalua, Peter Boy Kema and Geanna Bradley in lawsuits against the state, say these cases follow a disturbing lawsuits claim that DHS failed to properly monitor these children, allowing them to remain in abusive homes until it was too late.
'What we found, is that removing the children from their biological parents solves the immediate problem, but often they're placed into a foster home, which is the same or worse than the home that they came from,' Rosenberg said.
While reforms are crucial, some say it's not enough. The attorney representing the grandmother of Sarai Perez Riviera has filed a lawsuit against DHS.
'With the hope that having to pay damages will encourage some change in DHS to prevent cases like this from happening again in the future,' said Mark Gallagher, attorney for the family.
DHS said confidentiality laws prevent them from commenting about any of these cases. But the department urges people to report child abuse to Child Welfare Services Hotline at (808) 832-5300 for Oʻahu residents, and (888) 380-3088 for residents on the other islands, or call 911, even if you have a feeling something is not right.
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