HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

112

TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO REVIEW CONFIDENTIALITY LAWS PERTAINING TO COURT INVOLVED, MULTI-AGENCY YOUTH.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the United States Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, in concert with the United States Department of Education and the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, identified juvenile information sharing as an essential tool to assist juvenile justice, education, health, and other youth-serving agencies in their efforts to improve services for at-risk and delinquent youth and their families; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Juvenile Accountability Block Grants program has identified information sharing as one of its program purpose areas, "establishing and maintaining interagency information-sharing programs that enable the juvenile and criminal justice systems, schools, and social service agencies to make more informed decisions regarding the early identification, control, supervision, and treatment of juveniles who repeatedly commit serious delinquent or criminal acts"; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2000, the Hawaii County Comprehensive Strategy for Juvenile Justice recognized the need to establish procedures and protocols to facilitate information sharing between county and state agencies; and

 

     WHEREAS, in a study submitted to the Legislature for the 2007 Regular Session, the Hawaii County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney determined that families and youth involved with multiple agencies are often confused about which service provider has responsibility for which problem area and, as a result, information given to officers and program providers may be miscommunicated; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2007, the Big Island Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center Committee developed an agreement for interagency information sharing, in which participating agencies recognized that working with mutual youth clients in a more collaborative manner would ensure more efficient and effective services for youth in Hawaii County; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2010 and 2011, the Hawaii Mental Health Transformation State Incentive Grant's Criminal Justice Task Force, recognized the need for information sharing on juvenile matters, that barriers currently exist that obstruct the sharing of information, and that the Attorney General has done preliminary work in researching the federal and state confidentiality laws touching upon the many departments they advise; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, that the Department of the Attorney General is requested to:

 

     (1)  Review existing federal and state laws and agency rules relating to confidentiality, privacy, and privilege and their impact on interagency information sharing; and

 

     (2)  Make recommendations to better serve the youth of Hawaii through appropriate and necessary sharing of information involving the youth; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of the Attorney General is requested to submit its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature and affected government agencies, including but not limited to the Department of Human Services, the Department of Health, the Department of Education, and the Police Department and the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of each county, not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2012 Regular Session; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Attorney General; the Director of Human Services; the Director of Health; the Superintendent of Education; the Chairperson of the Board of Education; and the Police Chief and Prosecuting Attorney of each county.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Confidentiality Laws; Court Involved, Multi-Agency Youth; Department of the Attorney General; Study