STAND. COM. REP. NO. 786

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1367

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1367 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PROJECT KEALAHOU,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate moneys for Project Kealahou to ensure that the array of community-based, outpatient services and supports offered by this program are continued and expanded to meet the needs of at-risk youth, particularly adolescent females, and their families.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Judiciary.  Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

 

     Your Committee finds that Project Kealahou was developed after recognizing that adolescent girls face challenges inadequately addressed by established treatment programs.  Project Kealahou promotes community-based, individualized, culturally- and linguistically-competent, family-driven, youth-guided, and evidence-based services to at-risk female youth and their families.  Your Committee notes that federal funding for Project Kealahou will phase out in October 2015, and that state funding of an estimated $900,000 is needed to continue and expand this cost-effective array of services.

 

     Your Committee also finds that an annual report is necessary to allow the Legislature to assess and determine pertinent information on Project Kealahou.  Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Requiring an annual report to the Legislature on Project Kealahou, including information on outcomes, funding sustainability, and plans and recommendations to secure financial support for Project Kealahou going forward; and

 

     (2)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1367, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1367, S.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair