HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

265

TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

urging the governor to release or restore funds to the Department of Human Services for programs serving the homeless population on the Leeward Coast of Oahu.

 

 


     WHEREAS, the Department of Human Services provides crucial financial support to the Partners in Development Foundation, which assists homeless families on the Leeward coast of Oahu through the Ka Paalana Traveling Preschool and Homeless Family Education Program ("Ka Paalana"); and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Human Services has given notice to Partners in Development Foundation of its intention to terminate the contract that provides funding for Ka Paalana due to a lack of available funds; and

 

     WHEREAS, Ka Paalana delivers or provides access to essential services, such as a modified center-based preschool experience; a parent-child participatory preschool that provides services such as testing, portfolio assessment, referrals for health and developmental needs, and parenting classes; adult education services that include goal-setting, budgeting, vocational training, job placement, and G.E.D. preparation; and youth mentoring services that include tutoring, counseling, self-esteem building, and parenting classes; and

 

     WHEREAS, Ka Paalana further serves as an initial contact agency for families that are ready to transition to local shelters or temporary housing facilities; and

 

     WHEREAS, Ka Paalana delivers food to needy families as well as educational and social services; and

 

     WHEREAS, eliminating Department of Human Services funding for Ka Paalana will severely diminish direct services to nearly eight hundred children and over six hundred adults as well as indirect services to an additional five hundred adults who receive food distribution or transitional services through a family member; and

 

     WHEREAS, eliminating Department of Human Services funding for Ka Paalana eliminates fifteen to twenty full-time positions at the Partners in Development Foundation; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, the Senate concurring, that the Governor of the State of Hawaii is requested to release the funds that are necessary for the Department of Human Services to fulfill SUPPLEMENTAL CONTRACT NO. 1 to Provide Early Childhood Education and Family Education Programs Through the Ka Paalana Outreach Project on the Leeward Coast (DHS-10-ETPO-159); or, if the release of the full amount of funding necessary to fulfill the contract is not possible, then the Governor is requested to restructure the executive budget or otherwise allow services provided through the Ka Paalana Traveling Preschool and Homeless Family Education Program to continue until the end of fiscal year 2010-2011, and consult with the Partners in Development Foundation to develop a plan to continue these services through fiscal year 2011-2012; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor of the State of Hawaii, Director of Human Services, and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Partners in Development Foundation.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Department of Human Services; Homeless Programs; Partners in Development Foundation