HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

121

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

urging the Governor to convene a task force to address the continual need and unmet demand for housing facilities and urging the expansion of the homeless policy academy.

 

 

WHEREAS, although the State has built a record number of affordable rental units and implemented a program that reduced homelessness in Hawaii by forty per cent and provided millions of dollars in funding for emergency shelters, outreach programs, and homeless services, more work can and remains to be done; and

WHEREAS, barely three weeks after the State’s new Onemalu homeless shelter at Kalaeloa opened, it was nearly two-thirds full – an indication of the continual need for transitional housing facilities, particularly in Leeward Oahu where the State operates two other shelters, both of which are always full; and

WHEREAS, persistent demands to enact laws prohibiting camping and sleeping in public areas – when communities clearly know they do not have enough shelter beds to meet demand – is a reflection of conflicting federal, state, and county policies and programs to alleviate the root causes of homelessness; and

WHEREAS, the unmet demand for transitional housing, the cutting of about one thousand two hundred families from the welfare rolls in December 2001, and the abrupt downturn in the State’s economy will have a huge impact on those individuals who are most vulnerable – mentally ill people, women, and children; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii State Homeless Policy Academy was initiated in April 2002 and has begun to address some of the issues relating to the chronically homeless; and

WHEREAS, in order to alleviate the root causes of homelessness, government needs to have clear and consistent objectives and policies, respect the civil rights of homeless people, and protect the most vulnerable segments of our homeless population from harm; and

WHEREAS, our values, mores, and attitudes toward homelessness and homeless people are often shaped by ignorance and prejudice, are sometimes shaped by concerns for plummeting property values and public safety, and are rarely shaped by compassion and empathy for those less fortunate; and

WHEREAS, rather than providing an open invitation to engage in finger-pointing, the study by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty represents an unprecedented opportunity for communities to reconsider their values, mores, and attitudes toward homelessness and homeless people; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, the Senate concurring, that the Governor is urged to convene a task force to address the continual need and unmet demand for housing facilities statewide; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Governor, with the assistance of the task force, is urged to:

(1) Conduct a study to site and construct transitional (homeless) shelters, including facilities for supporting social services, particularly community health and public safety agencies in outlying areas, such as Kalaeloa and on other underutilized parcels of state, county, and federal land statewide;

(2) Conduct a study to identify alternate sites located outside the boundaries of Downtown Neighborhood Board No. 13 for the purposes of providing social services, including community health and public safety agencies, to homeless people and other people who reside outside the boundaries of Neighborhood Board No. 13;

(3) Propose financing options, including a state-federal partnership and the conveyance of underutilized federal lands to the State, for the purposes of constructing homeless shelters, including facilities for supporting social services, and provide financing options for the purpose of providing funding for the operation of social services statewide; and

(4) Review all types of housing needs to provide an entire continuum of care;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to be composed of:

(1) Representatives from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of federal, state, and county governments including the University of Hawaii and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs;

(2) State and county law enforcement agencies, including agencies that serve homeless people, mentally ill people, and women and children; and

(3) Business groups, including the Hawaii Business Roundtable and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Governor is requested to submit findings and recommendations to the Legislature not less than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2004; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Homeless Policy Academy is requested to expand the scope of its mission to include:

(1) More comprehensive needs of housing;

(2) An entire continuum of services;

(3) The possibility of increasing the stock of low-income and affordable housing;

(4) Statewide housing issues; and

(5) Participation from other service providers and agencies;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chief Justice, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Mayor and the Chairperson of the Council of each of the counties, Hawaii’s congressional delegation, Chairperson of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii, President of the University of Hawaii, Chairperson of the Hawaii Business Roundtable, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, and Executive Director of Blueprint for Change.

Report Title:

Governor's Transitional Housing Task Force