THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

57

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO ESTABLISH SOBRIETY SCHOOLS, ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS, OR DROPOUT CENTERS FOR ADOLESCENTS WHO SUFFER FROM SUBSTANCE ABUSE.

 

WHEREAS, the Joint House-Senate Task Force on Ice and Drug Abatement found that early intervention and treatment of adolescents should be the highest funding priority and that school-based treatment programs are successful in returning students to a drug-free lifestyle; and

WHEREAS, in 2004 the Senate approved Senate Resolution No. 111 which requested the Department of Education to explore the feasibility of establishing alternative schools or dropout centers for adolescents who suffer from drug addiction; and

WHEREAS, the first six to twelve months is vital for a newly sober adolescent, and reports demonstrate that approximately eighty percent return to regular drug use one year after treatment; and

WHEREAS, the high rate of recidivism correlates to the sober adolescent's return to the same school environment that may have caused their drug addiction; and

WHEREAS, providing the newly sober adolescent with a new environment to develop new peers and stronger life skills in the first months of sobriety will enhance their chances of remaining sober; and

WHEREAS, the State will realize a cost savings for assisting adolescents in remaining out of the juvenile justice system; and

WHEREAS, the task force recommended that the Department of Education explore the feasibility of creating alternative schools or dropout centers for adolescents suffering from substance abuse; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to establish sobriety schools, alternative schools, or dropout centers for adolescents who suffer from substance abuse to allow them to continue their education in an environment that supports their sobriety; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to Superintendent of Education and the Chairperson of the Board of Education.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Sobriety Schools, Alternative Schools, or Dropout Centers