STAND. COM. REP. 1143

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 964

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 964, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR TREATMENT SERVICES FOR CHILD VICTIMS OF INTRAFAMILIAL SEXUAL ABUSE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to appropriate funds for sex abuse treatment services, including psychological treatment and case management services, for child victims of intrafamilial sexual abuse and their families who are not a part of the Child Protective Services (CPS) system of the Department of Human Services (DHS).

The Judiciary, Friends of the Children's Justice Centers, and Child Welfare Services Council testified in support of this measure. DHS opposed this bill.

Your Committees find that CPS is overburdened and that there are insufficient DHS social workers and counseling services to accommodate the number of intrafamilial sex abuse cases. Without accessible sex abuse treatment, child victims of intrafamilial sexual abuse are more likely to have social problems, such as dropping out of school, teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, prostitution, and mental health issues. Thus, your Committees find that spending funds on sex abuse treatment programs will benefit both the victims of sex abuse as well as the community, and will also save the State from funding larger problems in the long-run.

Your Committees have amended this bill by:

(1) Changing the appropriation amount to $1 to facilitate further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity, conformity and style.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 964, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 964, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services and Housing,

 

____________________________

MICHAEL PUAMAMO KAHIKINA, Chair

____________________________

DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair