STAND. COM. REP. NO. 669

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: H.B. No. 646
                                     H.D. 2




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, to which
was referred H.B. No. 646, H.D. 1, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ADULT RESIDENTIAL CARE
     HOMES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to ensure the rights of both
adult residential care home residents and home operators by
establishing a mechanism to equitably resolve cases of alleged
abuse or neglect of residents.

     Specifically, this bill creates a two-year adult protective
services review panel for involuntary removal of residents from
adult residential care homes demonstration project on Oahu within
the Department of Human Services.  The bill outlines the steps,
including investigation, that must be taken when an adult
protective services referral is received by the Department
regarding alleged abuse or neglect of an adult residential care
home resident.  The bill also gives the accused home operator the
right to request a review of a removal of a resident under
certain circumstances and details the request process.  The bill
further determines the composition of the review panel and its
specific duties and functions.  In addition, this bill requires
review panel proceedings to be audiotaped and distributed to
designated individuals.  Furthermore, all information presented

 
a                                                         99-1761
 
 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 669
                                 Page 2

 
to the review panel is to be confidential unless required to be
disclosed by law and makes any unauthorized disclosure a
misdemeanor.  Finally, the Department of Human Services, assisted
by the Department of Health, is required to evaluate the
effectiveness of the project and report to the Legislature no
later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular
Session of 2001.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this bill
from the Department of Human Services and from the Big Island
ARCH.

     Your Committee has amended this bill, upon the suggestion of
the Department of Human Services, by adding to the membership of
the review panel a representative of the Judiciary, Office of the
Public Guardian, in section 2(f) of the bill on page 5.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce that is attached to
this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and
purpose of H.B. No. 646, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and
recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Finance, in
the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 646, H.D. 2.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Consumer
                                   Protection and Commerce,



                                   ______________________________
                                   RON MENOR, Chair

 
a                                                         99-1761