HONOLULU (KHON2) — Disturbing cases of children allegedly tortured and killed by their foster and adoptive parents are raising major concerns.
Some say money is driving these individuals to get involved and officials are calling on the Department of Human Services to take immediate action.
Ariel Sellers and Geanna Bradley were the two girls allegedly killed by the people the state entrusted to care for them.
Attorney Randall Rosenberg said in cases like these, money was a motivating factor.
“They get a stipend per child. They get more money if the child is special needs. They get even more money, there’s a bonus if the children are related, they take more than one,” Rosenberg said.
According to the Department of Human Services, those resource caregivers, foster parents and adoptive parents can receive between $649 and $776 each month, and an extra $570 more if the child is special needs.
Rosenberg is the attorney for both families of Geanna Bradley and Ariel Sellers in civil lawsuits against the state.
He said legal documents prove that Isaac and Leihua Kalua, the adoptive parents of Sellers, lied about their finances in their DHS application.
“They had multi six-figure debt for both husband and wife. There was no way that those two parents financially qualified to be able to take on four children, three of them special needs, two of them infants under the age of two and they were first-time parents,” Rosenberg added.
DHS said the licensing process does renew finances, but Rosenberg argues it’s not being verified.
“They accept the information they’re being given and there’s no attempt to find out if they’re being told the truth. If they verified the income, just as a start, how hard is that? That would weed out a lot of these people who are lying, who are just showing up to grab these kids and get the money for it.”
Representative Lisa Marten chairs the Human Services and Homelessness Committee.
“We absolutely should have oversight. We do have oversight in the case of foster children, and we now have oversight in the case of permanent placement with guardian ad litems,” Marten explained.
But Ariel Sellers had been adopted so the Kaluas were still getting paid, but the state no longer had oversight in that case.
“We really need to use more of a carrot than a stick at that point to incentivize people to let us have eyes on them,” Marten added.
In 2023, there were an estimated 1,225 keiki needing care in the foster system each month and only 843 licensed resource caregiver homes.
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Without an orphanage in Hawaii, foster parents are essential and Marten said the majority are good people doing it for the right reasons.
“We need the system and for most kids, they are in good placements and we are desperately grateful for those people that give that part of their home to take care of kids.”