Report Title:

Federal revenue maximization

 

Description:

Requires the District and Family Courts to report to the Governor and the Legislature on the reasons for not establishing and implementing a federal revenue maximization program for all services they provide to children in their care that may be eligible for federal financial participation and the Family Court's plan to do so in the future.

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

3135

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT


 

 

RELATING TO FEDERAL REVENUE MAXIMIZATION IN THE JUDICIARY.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature, in the regular session of 2006, passed Act 194, which authorized the judiciary to establish and implement, in collaboration with the department of human services, a federal revenue maximization program for all services that may be eligible for federal financial participation the federal title IV-E program.  The legislature in passing Act 194 recognized that implementing this title IV-E revenue maximization program would help to ensure that the state receives maximum federal reimbursement for eligible services provided by the judiciary to children under the care of the state's district and family courts.

     To date, a title IV-E revenue maximization program has not been implemented by the judiciary and the services available through the district and family courts in Hawaii are funded overwhelmingly by state revenues.

     Through the pursuit and optimal utilization of the available federal funds, the judiciary should be able to increase the moneys available for services to the children under its care and supervision by twenty-five percent.

     In 2002, the last full year for which complete data is available, Hawaii received $17,045,476 in title IV-E reimbursements.  This figure put the state of Hawaii in thirty-eighth place among the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in terms of total reimbursements.  Hawaii's youth population, on the other hand, is increasing faster than the rest of the country.  In 1995, Hawaii already ranked twenty-fourth in the nation in the percentage of its population under twenty years of age and it is estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau to rank sixth in the nation by 2025.

     Title IV-E, in particular, is in imminent danger of being converted to a block grant from its current status as a federal entitlement program.  This would eliminate the required federal financial participation contribution by the federal government, instead capping federal funding at the block grant appropriation amount.  A block grant would freeze allocations at current reimbursement levels and have a devastating impact on the state, particularly in light of the projected rapid increase in the youth population.

     Hawaii's allocation would be capped based on its current reimbursement levels.  It is therefore critical that the State maximize its claims for federal reimbursement before the block grant conversion occurs.

     As of June 2000, twenty-two states had already availed themselves of the opportunity to access title IV-E dollars for their juvenile justice populations.  At least two other major states (Illinois and Louisiana) have since joined the fold.  So commonplace has this funding mechanism become that Pennsylvania among others mandates in legislation that "no state or local funds may be expended on behalf of a juvenile until all available federal funds (primarily title IV-E, TANF, and Medicaid) and private funds for which the juvenile is eligible have been exhausted."

     In an editorial, published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Thursday, August 2, 2007, a leading jurist in the family court called for the development of community-based, non-restrictive alternatives to the current detention system.  For example, the department of human services has developed and is currently expanding a series of "safe houses" for non-violent juvenile offenders that offer just such an alternative.  The department, however, has been unable to secure all of the available federal funding for these programs because court order language and case planning and case management practices do not meet the requirements of the federal program.

     The changes required are not monumental.  The judiciary already meets all of the federal standards for those children involved with the child welfare system.  The change required is to extend to the juvenile justice population the same safeguards and protections already afforded the child welfare population.

     By seeking federal reimbursements for all the children under its jurisdiction (juvenile justice and child welfare alike), the judiciary can free up millions of dollars in state general revenues that can be reallocated for program expansion as highlighted in the aforementioned editorial.  Moreover, these federal reimbursements, when they are reinvested in eligible activities, can themselves serve as matching dollars to draw down even more federal revenue.

     It is imperative, therefore, that the state do everything in its power to increase the level of its federal reimbursements as quickly as possible, so as to augment the baseline upon which a future block grant would be based.

     The purpose of this Act is to amend Act 194, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, to require the judiciary to: (1) report to the governor and the legislature on the reasons why it should continue to receive state general revenues on behalf of children in their juvenile justice system, when it has not implemented a program to draw down readily available federal funds, for example, as twenty-two states have done with title IV-E, and as has been approved by the U.S. General Accounting Office in its report of June 2000, "Foster Care: HHS Should Ensure That Juvenile Justice Placements Are Reviewed" (GAO/HEHS-00-42) and endorsed by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges; and (2) require the judiciary to maximize the benefits for which a child is eligible under all relevant federal programs (title IV-E, medicaid, SSI) before state general fund revenues can be expended.

     SECTION 2.  Act 194, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, is amended as follows:

     (1)  By adding a new section to read as follows:

     "SECTION 2A.  No state general funds may be expended on behalf of a child within the juvenile justice system until the judiciary has maximized the benefits for which a child is eligible under all relevant federal programs (title IV-E, medicaid, SSI)."

     (2)  By amending section 3 to read as follows:

     "SECTION 3.  (a)  The judiciary shall, if the program is implemented, submit a report each year to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each of the 2007 to 2010 regular sessions that shall include but not be limited to:

     (1)  The amount of federal reimbursements received for the prior federal fiscal year;

     (2)  The amount of additional federal funding that has been secured;

     (3)  The amount of claims pending;

     (4)  The amount of additional federal funding that is projected to be secured over the next five years; and

     (5)  Plans for the reinvestment of additional federal funds to expand needed services to the State's children.

     (b)  If the judiciary does not implement a federal revenue maximization program, the judiciary shall report to the governor and the legislature on the reasons why the judiciary should continue to receive state general revenues for children in the juvenile justice system, when the judiciary has not implemented a program to draw down readily available federal funds.

     The judiciary shall submit the report to the governor and legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2009 regular session."

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

 

BY REQUEST