STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2231

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 2579
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was
referred S.B. No. 2579 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to create a special needs
housing special fund.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure
from the Department of Health, Department of Business, Economic
Development, and Tourism, Honolulu Department of Community
Services, Mental Health Association in Hawaii, Hawaii Psychiatric
Medical Association, Safe Haven, Affordable Housing and Homeless
Alliance, Institute for Human Services, Inc., Hawaii Substance
Abuse Coalition, NAMI Oahu, and three private individuals.

     The special needs housing special fund would be used to
provide supportive housing for persons with mental illness and
substance abuse conditions.  The fund would be administered by
the Housing and Community Development of Hawaii.

     The intent of this measure is to provide supportive housing
which comprehensively addresses mental illness and substance
abuse in the homeless population.

     Your Committee finds that current facilities and programs
that provide special needs housing for persons with mental
illness and substance abuse addictions have neither the funds nor

 
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the capacity to offer services to all those in need.  A
conservative estimate based on the 1999 Homeless Needs Assessment
Study suggests that between five hundred fifty and eight hundred
mentally ill homeless persons are in need of affordable housing.
Given the present waiting lists for Honolulu's Safe Haven, a
facility that provides housing and rehabilitation services to the
homeless, as many as two additional Safe Haven facilities are
needed on the island of Oahu alone to address the homeless
problem of those with mental illness.

     Your Committee further finds that state and county
governments suffer unnecessary financial burdens when mainstream
public support systems, such as prisons, hospitals, and emergency
rooms, become the primary mechanism for treating acutely and
chronically ill homeless persons.  Studies show that these ad hoc
approaches to the mentally ill and substance abusing homeless
population exceed the cost of outright treatment by tens of
thousands of dollars per capita per year.  Ad hoc approaches that
fail to comprehensively address mental illness, substance abuse,
and homelessness will most likely prove unsustainable.

     Your Committee further finds that combining housing services
with mental health and substance abuse treatment is necessary to
provide mentally ill homeless persons with the support needed to
maintain housing and to ensure that homeless persons returning to
more independent housing are able to adjust to their new demands.  

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing the expending agency from the Department of
          Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, to the
          Housing and Community Development Corporation as the
          appropriate expending agency; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes to reflect
          preferred drafting style and clarity.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this
report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose
of S.B. No. 2579, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass
Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2579,
S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.


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



                                   ______________________________
                                   SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair

 
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