The abrupt retirement of Department of Human Services Director Ryan Yamane last week comes at a pivotal time when the troubled state Child Welfare Services system tries to cope with staff vacancies, and lawmakers try to stand up some new reforms.

Yamane, a former social worker who led DHS for almost two years, last summer took on direct oversight of the troubled CWS branch in the wake of high-profile reports by the Mālama ʻOhana Working Group and the Hawaiʻi State Auditor that were sharply critical of the agency.

Under Yamane the agency launched a new system of unannounced, after-hours visits to foster homes to provide additional checks on foster children, and pushed for improvements in foster home licensing. It is unclear exactly how much his efforts accomplished, or where they stand now.

Yamane on Tuesday announced his retirement effective that same day in the midst of an inquiry by the state Attorney General’s Office into allegations that an influential state lawmaker — who has never been identified publicly — received $35,000 in 2022.

The AG is also scrutinizing millions of dollars in state funding that flowed to a kidney nonprofit during the pandemic, and Yamane was reportedly questioned by the AG’s staff. It is unclear whether or how Yamane might be involved in any of that.

State Sen. Joy San Buenaventura, who is chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, told Civil Beat she regarded Yamane as an important player in the child welfare system.

Problems in CWS have been so severe that San Buenaventura floated the possibility of creating a commission to oversee child welfare and press for improvements, but she deferred action on that idea to give Yamane time to make changes.

“When you try to shake up norms, and people are used to keeping status quo, it takes a while for people to accept new norms,” she said. San Buenaventura still isn’t ready to pursue the commission idea yet, but said the department needs to fill key management positions and step up recruitment of its line staff.

“We need full employment for our social workers,” San Buenaventura said. “We need to make sure that they’re supported, and so that way they will be able to handle the cases fairly and be able to provide supports instead of yanking kids when they don’t need to be yanked.”

A Tangle Of Troubles

Child welfare has long been a source of concern at the Legislature, but there has been particular focus on the agency since the disappearance of 6-year-old Isabella Kalua from her home in Waimānalo in 2021.

The adoptive parents of Isabella, formerly known as Ariel Sellers, were eventually charged with her murder, but the child’s body has never been found. The case triggered a public uproar that led lawmakers two years later to create the Mālama ʻOhana Working Group to propose improvements to the system.

The working group produced a critical report in 2024 that among other things called for more programs and resources to support families at risk for CWS involvement so the children in those families would not have to be removed.

That same year the state auditor released a separate report that documented long delays in licensing of hānai or blood relatives of children who were being used as foster families. Those licensing delays sometimes lasted for years, meaning children were placed for extended periods with adults who had not been fully vetted by the department.

The Department of Human Services has also struggled for years to fill vacancies in Child Welfare Services, with vacant positions among investigators and caseworkers — which are some of the most difficult jobs in state government — sometimes reaching 40%.

More recently, there has also been an exodus and planned retirements of several high-level managers that play various roles related to CWS.

There is still no permanent replacement for Daisy Hartsfield, a longtime human services professional who oversaw the CWS branch as social services division administrator from 2020 until she resigned Oct. 1. Gov. Josh Green later appointed Hartsfield to represent Waipahu in the state House.

The position of assistant social services administrator, another management position above the CWS branch, has been filled with temporary appointees since before Hartsfield left, and two more retirements of key players were announced in recent weeks.

Child Welfare Services Branch Administrator Elladine Olevao and CWS Assistant Administrator Tonia Mahi both told colleagues they are retiring, with Mahi’s departure scheduled for June 30, staff said. Those departures would remove the two top leaders in the CWS branch.

When asked about those CWS retirements, DHS Communications Specialist Jerron Oyama said in a written statement Thursday that Olevao and Mahi are still on the job today. “While the Department cannot comment on personnel matters, CWS continues its daily work with an unwavering commitment to serving Hawaiʻi’s most vulnerable keiki.”

As for the social services division vacancies, the division administrator and assistant administrator jobs have been temporarily filled by “two experienced professionals” until permanent replacements are recruited and hired, according to Oyama’s statement. Those temporary replacements are under the direct oversight of DHS Deputy Director Trista Speer.

Yamane, who was appointed director of the human services department in 2024, was also a major player in the CWS system after he personally took on oversight of the child welfare system a year ago. Green has temporarily replaced Yamane with Acting DHS Director Joseph Campos II.

DHS managers declined a request for an interview last week, but according to their statement “the department’s executive leadership remains strong, aligned, and focused on stability during this transition period.”

Confusion And Concern

CWS had an overall vacancy rate of about 30% in early 2025 according to the most recent public data, which was about the same vacancy rate as a year earlier. The vacancy rate for caseworkers was even higher at 39%, while 46% of positions for caseworker aides were vacant.

Hartsfield, who is now a state representative, said in a written statement that staff recruitment and retention need immediate attention from management.

“Long term vacancies is concerning in any program because it impacts the capacity to provide services to the community,” Hartsfield wrote. “Lack of capacity leads to added stress in the workplace, negative morale, burnout, and eventual resignations.”

“Leadership and management are key to addressing the problem of staff vacancies,” she wrote.

Hartsfield noted that Campos, the acting director, held a virtual meeting with the DHS staff, which she called “a great first step.”

San Buenaventura also cited the urgent need to recruit and fill vacancies. “Until we fill the vacancies,” she said, “it’s easy for them to point to being overstressed as reasons for failure.”

Initiatives With Promise

There have been a series of initiatives to try to improve or support CWS, including efforts to fill vacancies.

State lawmakers committed $6 million last year for pay incentives for high-performing staff who manage difficult caseloads and seek out extra training. The Legislature also approved money for pay differentials to help attract people to the particularly difficult jobs of caseworkers and investigators.

But Hartsfield said in her written statement those efforts “helped to fill positions but unfortunately, did not appear to retain workers as hoped.” She noted not all CWS employees get the pay differentials, and suggested providing the extra pay to all positions in the CWS branch “could still be effective in addressing vacant positions.”

In a separate effort, Yamane launched the new Kākoʻo Program last spring to make unannounced “wellness checks” of foster children by staff volunteers. The visits are done after hours and on weekends, and staff see each foster child. The foster families are offered additional services as needed.

Current and former staff said the Kākoʻo program was recently halted, but the department said in its statement that the program has not been discontinued. “DHS is currently evaluating the initiative to determine enhancements for its next phase,” according to the statement.

Yamane also said last spring the department was about to launch a program of required training for families who plan to adopt children out of the CWS system. The state already trains foster families before they are licensed, and offers voluntary pre- and post-adoption training.

The statement provided by Oyama on behalf of DHS said the mandatory training initiative for families that want to adopt children has not yet launched. CWS continues to evaluate ways to ensure that families “receive appropriate training prior to adoption and that support continues after finalization,” it said.

Meanwhile, lawmakers attempted some CWS fixes from outside the system this year.

They approved Senate Bill 3204, which would establish a two-year Family Resilience Pilot Program within the state Office of Wellness and Resilience to support families that could be at risk for CWS involvement. That was a recommendation from the Mālama ʻOhana report.

The bill would provide $600,000 to train and hire five peer support resource navigators to guide up to 80 troubled families, helping them tap into programs and resources such as parenting classes that can help keep the families intact.

The Legislature also approved House Bill 1801 this year to put up $200,000 to train CWS staff on the dynamics of domestic violence, and to provide experts for the staff to consult on domestic violence cases.