STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3056

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                   

 

RE:     H.B. No. 2021

        H.D. 2

        S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Human Services and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 2021, H.D. 2, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS WITH SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Require the Department of Human Services, in consultation with the Department of Health, to establish a pilot project to provide shelter and mental health treatment for homeless individuals with severe mental illness who are subject to court-ordered involuntary hospitalization to a psychiatric facility pursuant to part IV of chapter 334, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

 

     (2)  Appropriate funds for the pilot project.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Psychological Association, Institute for Human Services, Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Kailua Laundromat, National Alliance on Mental Illness - Hawaii, and twenty-eight individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness, Department of Human Services, Department of Health, Department of the Attorney General, and two individuals.

 

     Your Committees find that there is a gap in services for homeless individuals with severe mental illness, as these individuals often cycle between homelessness, emergency room treatment, incarceration, and hospitalization.  Your Committees further find that there are limited housing and services for homeless individuals with severe mental illnesses.  Providing care for homeless individuals with severe mental illness will allow them time to transition to a healthier life.

 

     Your Committees also note that the Department of the Attorney General and Institute of Human Services expressed concern that the facility being administered by the Department of Human Services, in consultation with the Department of Health, in this measure does not fulfill the definition of a psychiatric facility required for individuals subjected to a court-ordered involuntary hospitalization pursuant to part IV of chapter 334, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

 

     Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Changing the target population to be served by the pilot project from homeless individuals with severe mental illness who are subject to court-ordered involuntary hospitalization to a psychiatric facility pursuant to part IV of chapter 334, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to homeless individuals with severe mental illness who are subject to an assisted community treatment order or court ordered guardianship;

 

     (2)  Establishing the goal for the pilot project of enabling homeless individuals with severe mental illness to find permanent housing through Housing First programs; provided that Adult Protective Services must first seek a court ordered guardianship for those individuals and consult with the Family Court and other appropriate agencies;

 

     (3)  Requiring the Adult Protective Services of the Department of Health to seek a court ordered guardianship for homeless individuals with severe mental illness and consult with the family court and other appropriate agencies about homeless individuals with severe mental illness who were subjected to an assisted community treatment order;

 

     (4)  Requiring a homeless individual with severe mental illness to provide identification documentation, such as a social security card, driver's license, or state identification card, in order to be eligible for the pilot project;

 

     (5)  Requiring that a memorandum of understanding be established between the Department of Human Services, Department of Health, and other appropriate agencies implementing the pilot project;

 

     (6)  Specifying that the purpose of the appropriation for establishment of the pilot project shall include hiring of a social worker and social service assistant;

 

     (7)  Requiring the Department of the Attorney General to approve the pilot project before it may take effect;

 

     (8)  Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose; and

 

     (9)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2021, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2021, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

 


Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

 

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

 

________________________________

JOSH GREEN, Chair