REPORT TITLE:
Special Needs Housing Fund


DESCRIPTION:
Creates the special needs housing special fund to be used to
provide supportive housing for persons with mental illness and
substance abuse addictions.  Authorizes an unspecified amount for
the issuance of general obligation bonds to provide supportive
housing for persons with mental illness and substance abuse
addictions;  provided the private sector provides a 1 to 5 match.
(SB2579 HD2)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2579
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO HOUSING.


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that current facilities
 
 2 and programs that provide special needs housing for persons with
 
 3 mental illness and substance abuse addictions have neither the
 
 4 funds nor the capacity to offer services to all those in need.  A
 
 5 conservative estimate based on the 1999 Homeless Needs Assessment
 
 6 Study suggests that between five hundred fifty and eight hundred
 
 7 mentally ill homeless persons are in need of affordable housing.
 
 8 Given the present waiting lists for Honolulu's Safe Haven, as
 
 9 many as two additional Safe Haven facilities are needed on the
 
10 island of Oahu alone to address the homeless problem of those
 
11 with mental illness.
 
12      In addition, the Strategic Planning Action Work Group for
 
13 Homeless Persons With Serious Mental Illness recommends further
 
14 development of three types of residential rehabilitation:
 
15 special supported housing, twenty-four-hour group homes, and
 
16 eight-to-sixteen-hour group homes.  Partners In Care, a statewide
 
17 coalition of homeless service providers, has prioritized other
 
18 needed services for the homeless population, such as supportive
 
19 housing for people with addictions within a framework of multiple
 
20 diagnoses.
 

 
Page 2                                                     2579
                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        H.D. 2
                                                        

 
 1      The legislature also finds that state and county governments
 
 2 suffer unnecessary financial burdens when mainstream public
 
 3 support systems, such as prisons, hospitals, and emergency rooms,
 
 4 become the primary mechanism for treating acutely and chronically
 
 5 ill homeless persons.  Studies show that these ad hoc approaches
 
 6 to the mentally ill and substance abusing homeless population
 
 7 exceed the cost of outright treatment by tens of thousands of
 
 8 dollars per capita per year.  Ad hoc approaches that fail to
 
 9 comprehensively address mental illness, substance abuse, and
 
10 homelessness, will most likely prove unsustainable.
 
11      Therefore, linking housing services with mental health and
 
12 substance abuse treatment is necessary to provide mentally ill
 
13 homeless persons with the support needed to maintain housing and
 
14 to ensure that homeless persons returning to more independent
 
15 housing are able to adjust to the new responsibilities.  The
 
16 legislature further finds that there is great need in the State
 
17 for supportive housing that comprehensively addresses mental
 
18 illness and substance abuse in the homeless population.
 
19      The purpose of this Act is to:
 
20      (1)  Create a special needs housing special fund; and
 
21      (2)  Authorize general obligation bonds to provide
 
22           supportive housing for persons with mental illness and
 
23           substance abuse addictions in the homeless populations.
 

 
Page 3                                                     2579
                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        H.D. 2
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 2.  Chapter 201G, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated
 
 3 and to read as follows:
 
 4      "�201G-    Special needs housing special fund.  (a)  There
 
 5 is established in the state treasury a special fund to be known
 
 6 as the special needs housing special fund, that shall be used to
 
 7 provide supportive housing for persons with mental illness and
 
 8 substance abuse addictions in the homeless population.
 
 9      (b)  All moneys for the fund shall be provided from
 
10 legislative appropriations, gifts, donations, and grants from
 
11 public agencies and private persons.
 
12      (c)  All interest earned or accrued on money deposited in
 
13 the fund shall become part of the fund.  The fund shall be
 
14 administered by the corporation."
 
15      SECTION 3.  The director of finance is authorized to issue
 
16 general obligation bonds in the sum of $1 or so much thereof as
 
17 may be necessary, and the same sum or so much thereof as may be
 
18 necessary is appropriated for fiscal year 2000-2001, to be paid
 
19 into the special needs housing special fund, and to provide
 
20 supportive housing for persons with mental illness and substance
 
21 abuse addictions in the homeless populations; provided that no
 
22 funds shall be made available under this Act unless matched on
 
23 the basis of one dollar from the private sector for every five
 
24 dollars from the State for the purpose for which this sum is
 
25 appropriated.
 

 
Page 4                                                     2579
                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        H.D. 2
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 4.  The appropriation made for capital improvement
 
 2 projects authorized in this Act shall not lapse at the end of the
 
 3 fiscal year for which the appropriation is made; provided that
 
 4 all appropriations that are unencumbered as of June 30, 2001,
 
 5 shall lapse as of that date.
 
 6      SECTION 5.  The sum appropriated shall be expended by the
 
 7 housing and community development corporation of Hawaii for the
 
 8 purpose of this Act.
 
 9      SECTION 6.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
10      SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2000.