Best Foster Care Resource for Neighbor Island Families in Hawaii

For families on Maui, the Big Island, Kauai, Molokai, or Lanai, the Hawaii Foster Care Licensing Guide is the most useful single resource available. The DHS website, RCG portal, and Catholic Charities orientation materials were built around an Oahu-centric model — they describe a process that works smoothly when your CWS field office is a thirty-minute drive away and HANAI training sessions happen in Honolulu monthly. None of them tell a Big Island family which training components they can complete remotely, which require travel, or how to coordinate a home study when the licensing unit is based on another island.

This page is for families outside Oahu who want to know what resources actually address their specific situation — and which ones assume you live in Honolulu.

The Neighbor Island Problem in Plain Terms

Oahu holds approximately 70% of Hawaii's population and serves as the administrative and logistical center for the Department of Human Services Child Welfare Services. DHS field offices, HANAI in-person training sessions, Catholic Charities Statewide Resource Families orientations, and licensing unit staff are overwhelmingly concentrated on Oahu. Approximately 30% of Hawaii's population lives on Neighbor Islands — and they are the families most frequently told, informally or implicitly, that the process is harder from where they live.

The three most common abandonment points for Neighbor Island families are:

1. HANAI training scheduling: Discovering that in-person training sessions are rare or infrequent on their island, and assuming travel to Honolulu is required for all 15 hours.
2. CWS contact and home study coordination: Not knowing which field office handles their application or how to schedule a home study with a licensing worker who may need to travel from Oahu.
3. Process uncertainty: Receiving guidance designed for Oahu applicants and not knowing which steps apply differently — or at all — on their island.

None of the major free resources address these points in consolidated, island-specific terms.

Resource Comparison for Neighbor Island Applicants

What a Neighbor Island Applicant Actually Needs to Know

Which training is available remotely

The HANAI (Hawaii Assures Nurturing and Involvement) pre-service training is 15 hours, mandatory for all resource caregiver applicants. Not all 15 hours require travel to Honolulu. The Binti portal and hybrid training model introduced in recent years allow applicants to complete a significant portion of the training online. However, the DHS website and RCG portal do not publish a clear breakdown of which sessions are hybrid-available versus in-person only. Families on the Big Island or Kauai who assume all training requires Oahu travel — and cannot afford the flights — frequently abandon the process before investigating whether remote options exist.

Which CWS field office handles your application

Hawaii's CWS operates separate field offices by island:

• Maui CWS handles Maui County including Molokai and Lanai
• Hawaii CWS handles Hawaii County (the Big Island) with sub-offices in Hilo and Kona
• Kauai CWS handles Kauai County

Each island office operates on different schedules, caseload levels, and orientation frequencies. An applicant who calls the main DHS number may receive routing guidance that reflects Oahu staffing rather than their local office's actual availability. Knowing which office to contact directly — and which staff handle resource caregiver licensing versus active case management — saves significant back-and-forth.

Home study coordination on Neighbor Islands

The home study is conducted by a licensing worker who evaluates your home environment and conducts in-person interviews with all household members. On Oahu, scheduling this visit typically involves a wait of two to six weeks after HANAI training completion. On Neighbor Islands, wait times are longer and depend on whether a licensing worker from the local office can conduct the visit or whether one needs to travel from Oahu. Applicants who do not understand this variation in timeline can misjudge the 90-day licensing window and inadvertently let their application documents lapse.

CPR/First Aid certification availability by island

All resource caregiver applicants must complete CPR and First Aid certification as part of HANAI training requirements. On Oahu, courses are offered frequently through multiple providers. On Maui, the Big Island, and Kauai, the same certifications are available through Red Cross and American Heart Association — but scheduling requires more lead time. Neighbor Island applicants who treat CPR certification as an afterthought frequently encounter scheduling delays that push their licensing timeline past the 90-day window.

Who This Resource Is For

The Hawaii Foster Care Licensing Guide is the right choice for Neighbor Island families if:

• You live on Maui, the Big Island, Kauai, Molokai, or Lanai and want to understand which parts of the process you can complete remotely versus which require travel or in-person attendance
• You have been told (formally or informally) that fostering is more complicated from a Neighbor Island and want to separate fact from assumption
• You want a consolidated list of CWS field office contacts, training scheduling information, and island-specific logistics before you begin the application
• You need to understand how the 90-day licensing window functions on your island's timeline, not Oahu's
• You are a kinship caregiver — caring for a grandchild, niece, nephew, or 'ohana member's keiki — and need to understand the expedited kinship pathway that bypasses some standard timing

Peer community advice (Facebook groups) may be your best supplement if:

• You want firsthand accounts from other Neighbor Island caregivers about what the licensing experience actually felt like on your specific island
• You want to identify current community contacts at your local CWS office or HANAI training provider
• You are looking for emotional support from people who have navigated the same geographic and logistical challenges

Direct DHS contact is essential when:

• You have a specific circumstance — an unusual household background check situation, a kinship emergency placement, or a housing waiver question — that requires individualized guidance from a licensing worker
• You need to confirm current orientation dates and availability for your island

Tradeoffs Worth Naming

The most common mistake Neighbor Island families make is assuming the process is harder than it actually is, based on reading Oahu-centric resources. The second most common mistake is assuming the process is the same as Oahu, and then encountering the logistics differences mid-application. Both errors are avoidable with the right upfront information.

No resource — including this guide — can substitute for direct contact with your island's CWS field office once you are ready to begin. What the guide does is give you enough context to make that first call productive: knowing which questions to ask, which documents to begin preparing, and what to expect on your island's timeline rather than a generic statewide average.

The financial picture on Neighbor Islands is identical to Oahu: monthly board rates of $649 to $776 depending on the child's age, clothing allowances, Med-QUEST coverage for all foster children, and potential Difficulty of Care supplements up to $570 per month for children with specialized needs. Island location does not affect the benefits available to licensed resource caregivers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to go to Honolulu for HANAI training if I live on the Big Island?

No. Hybrid training options allow applicants to complete a significant portion of the 15-hour HANAI curriculum online through the Binti portal. Some in-person components may still be required depending on your island's current training schedule, but the assumption that all 15 hours require travel to Oahu is inaccurate. Contact your island's CWS office or Catholic Charities Hawaii to confirm which components are currently available remotely.

Is fostering realistically possible from Kauai?

Yes. Kauai County has its own CWS field office. Licensing, placements, and ongoing case management all occur on-island. The logistics are different from Oahu — training schedules are less frequent, wait times can be longer, and some coordination requires phone and video contact with the Honolulu licensing unit — but Kauai families do get licensed and do receive placements.

Will my Neighbor Island location affect how many placement calls I receive?

Placement calls are made based on child needs, caregiver capacity, and geographic proximity to the child's biological family. A licensed caregiver on Maui will primarily receive placement calls for children in Maui County. Placement volume is lower than Oahu simply because the child population is smaller, but Neighbor Island caregivers are needed — DHS actively recruits on all islands because caregiver shortages are most acute outside Honolulu.

How long does licensing take on the Big Island compared to Oahu?

The formal 90-day licensing window applies statewide. In practice, Neighbor Island timelines are typically longer due to less frequent HANAI training sessions, home study scheduling delays, and lower staffing density at island CWS offices. Families who prepare thoroughly — completing background checks and health clearances before attending orientation, scheduling CPR certification early, and uploading documents promptly to the RCG portal — come closest to the 90-day target regardless of island.

Is there any financial support for travel costs related to licensing?

Not through DHS directly. However, some Neighbor Island families have accessed support through local community organizations and faith-based networks (LDS, Catholic Charities) that facilitate carpooling or subsidize travel to in-person sessions. The best source for current island-specific options is your local CWS field office or the Catholic Charities Hawaii Neighbor Island coordinator.

The Hawaii Foster Care Licensing Guide includes a dedicated island-by-island logistics chapter covering CWS field office contacts, remote and hybrid training options, home study coordination, and the scheduling workarounds that Neighbor Island families use to complete licensing without flying to Honolulu. It is the only resource that addresses the geographic realities of fostering outside Oahu in consolidated form.

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