The state Department of Human Services has sharply reduced the number of children taken into state custody each year since 2003 under a relatively new approach that DHS officials say is drawing national attention.

DHS’ "differential response system" quickly identifies children at low risk for harm and has cut the number of children taken into state custody each year by more than half — from a peak of 2,515 children in 2003 to 1,042 in the 2011 fiscal year, which ended June 30.

"We have become a national model for diverting children from foster care, and people really applaud Hawaii when they see a greater than 50 percent reduction in the number of children entering foster care," said DHS Director Pat McManaman. "Kids do better when they’re with their families. Kids do better when they’re with their siblings. Kids do better when they’re with their extended family, particularly in Hawaii. Family identifies us."

DHS officials provided data to the Star-Advertiser on the number of children who enter Hawaii’s Child Welfare Services system each year — and the reasons why — following the unexplained death of a 9-month-old baby in August while in state custody.

The data offer a more complete picture of the reasons under which Hawaii’s Child Welfare Services system removes children from their families each year, including 9-month-old Jayvid Waa-Ili.

The baby was taken out of a Hauula home and placed in state custody on Aug. 10. He died Aug. 26 at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center. The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s office has yet to determine the cause of death, pending toxicology reports.

(Since the 2000 fiscal year, 29 children have died while in state custody, including Waa-Ili. The children who died included one who was abused while in state custody and two more who were abused just before state officials took over their cases. Twelve of the 29 children who died in state custody suffered from serious or multiple medical problems, such as leukemia, heart conditions, cerebral palsy, head trauma and brain tumors.)

The DHS data show a dramatic decline in the number of children taken into state custody each year since 2003, when federal officials reviewed DHS, said Kayle Perez, Hawaii’s Child Welfare Services branch administrator.

The number of children entering Child Welfare Services already was dropping by 2005, when DHS officials implemented their differential response system, Perez said.

It starts when a Department of Human Services worker runs down a list of 15 risk factors — such as violence, drug abuse or sexual assault — that could put a child in imminent risk.

If there is no apparent danger, Hawaii’s differential response system then brings family members together with a trained facilitator to create a six-month family plan that will allow them to stay together and work on their issues in a safe environment, McManaman said.

Nearly every Child Welfare Services case involves multiple reasons for taking a child into state custody, Perez said.

But the No. 1 reason by far — parental neglect — has remained a constant factor in the majority of cases since 2000.

Parental neglect covers a wide range of serious parenting problems, including depriving children of medical treatment, Perez said.

"It’s not, ‘I didn’t feed my child breakfast today,’" Perez said. "It’s, ‘The child is malnourished.’ … Some people leave their kids with a neighbor and never come back."

While parental neglect continues to be the biggest factor in officials’ decisions to remove children from their homes, the percentage of children entering state custody because of parental drug abuse dropped from 34 percent in 2004, 2005 and 2006 to 20 percent in the 2011 fiscal year.

DHS data also show:

» Physical abuse as a factor in the removal of a child jumped from 25 percent in fiscal 2009 to 32 percent in 2010 and to 34 percent in the 2011 fiscal year.

» A caretaker’s "inability to cope" was a factor in 46 percent of cases in 2003 but was a factor in 24 percent of cases in the 2011 fiscal year. An example of a caretaker’s "inability to cope" could be the result of acute depression from the loss of a spouse, McManaman said.

Oliver Kauhane Jr. and his wife, Evelyn, had to learn how to address the special needs of foster children when they became empty-nesters in 1998 and opened their two-story, four-bedroom, three-bath home to the first of 21 children in Hawaii’s Child Welfare Services system.

All of the Kauhanes’ foster children — whether they were toddlers or teenagers — experienced some form of parental neglect before they came to them, Oliver Kauhane said.

And all of them needed rules, routine and discipline, he said.

Whenever a new child arrived, Oliver would shake their hand and say, "I’m glad to meet you. Welcome to the house. Here are the rules: Keep your room clean, no TV after 8:30, you gotta go to school."

After 20 years as the production supervisor for Foremost Dairies, Kauhane thought he knew how to read a group of people to tell who was involved, who was slacking and who was headed for trouble.

But he still benefited from DHS classes on how to be a successful foster parent, especially the lessons about how to remain calm when confronted with childhood problems he had never seen in his own children.

"I had to force myself to be a good person," Oliver said. "Those DHS classes really helped me to be patient."

The $529 monthly base DHS payment per child barely covered the cost of food and other expenses, especially for the hungry teenagers, Kauhane said.

The real reward, he said, was when four of their foster children — out of 21 — later came back and told the Kauhanes that they appreciated being taken in by them.

"That feels good," Oliver Kauhane said. "Real good."

The Kauhanes retired from foster care in August because of health problems for Oliver, 79.

Even with a more than 50 percent decline in children entering Hawaii’s Child Welfare Services system, Perez said, "there are so many different kids" with so many different reasons for being taken into state custody.

For foster parents like the Kauhanes, McManaman said, the basic template for success remains the same: "They have to be caring," she said, "compassionate, loving, skilled and consistent."