STAND. COM. REP. NO. 766

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 600
                                        S.D. 2




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B.
No. 600, S.D. 1, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SUBSTANCE ABUSE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to establish a state interagency
coordinating body headed by the Department of Public Safety to
oversee the development and implementation of offender substance
abuse treatment programs in the State.

     Furthermore, this measure requires confidential interagency
sharing of the medical, psychological, or mental health records
of inmates in treatment programs.  Other state agencies required
to participate in the coordinating body include the Hawaii
Paroling Authority, the Judiciary, the Department of Health, the
Department of Human Services, and any other agency assigned
oversight responsibilities for offender substance abuse
treatment.

     Your Committee finds that effective substance abuse
treatment requires inmate trust and interagency coordination.
First, offenders must be assured that medical and related
information provided and shared among participating agencies
during the course of substance abuse treatment will be kept
confidential in accordance with federal law.  Otherwise, inmates
with substance abuse problems will be hesitant to actively

 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 766
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participate in the treatment process.  Second, effective
substance abuse treatment of the individual requires an
integrated agency-wide effort because many agencies have
jurisdiction over some facet of substance abuse treatment and an
individual receiving public assistance with substance abuse is
likely to encounter more than one of those agencies during the
treatment process.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by replacing the
Department of Public Safety with the Department of Health as the
lead agency of the state interagency coordinating body.  Your
Committee has also deleted reference to a master plan, clarified
the specific program subject to interagency coordination,
tightened language regarding the confidentiality of inmate
medical and related records, and specified that it is additional
available funding that the agencies are required to pursue.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B.
No. 600, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass
Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 600,
S.D. 2.

                                 Respectfully submitted on behalf
                                 of the members of the Committee
                                 on Ways and Means,



                                 ________________________________
                                 CAROL FUKUNAGA, Co-Chair



                                 ________________________________
                                 ANDREW LEVIN, Co-Chair

 
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