REPORT TITLE:
Children and families


DESCRIPTION:
Creates the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. (HB272
HD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        272
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that government agencies
 
 2 serving children and families have been criticized for failing to
 
 3 deliver effective, holistic services.  Departments are held
 
 4 responsible for administering a patchwork system of categorical
 
 5 services in which each piece is supposed to solve a specific
 
 6 problem.  Unfortunately, the different pieces don't always fit
 
 7 together.  In some cases, efforts are duplicated, or children and
 
 8 families slip through the cracks completely.
 
 9      The result is a chaotic, fragmented system that doesn't
 
10 really help children and families.  Families who are struggling
 
11 wind up going door-to-door and program-to-program to get help
 
12 with food, housing, childcare, health care, and job training.
 
13 Families talk to numerous case managers, complete dozens of
 
14 forms, and endure long waiting lists without ever getting what
 
15 they really need.
 
16      The purpose of this Act is to ensure better organization and
 
17 coordination to deliver services to children and families in ways
 
18 that better reflect the complex reality of their lives by
 
19 creating the department of children, youth, and families.
 

 
Page 2                                                     272
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      This Act creates the new department by:
 
 2      (1)  Establishing a partnership planning team to plan the
 
 3           implementation of the new department; and
 
 4      (2)  Establishing procedures to implement the transition of
 
 5           programs and functions to the new department.
 
 6      SECTION 2.  (a)  There is established a partnership planning
 
 7 team in the office of the governor to plan the implementation of
 
 8 a new department of children, youth, and families.  The purpose
 
 9 of the department of children, youth, and families is to:
 
10      (1)  Improve the well-being of children and families by
 
11           coordinating programs and services;
 
12      (2)  Focus on prevention; and
 
13      (3)  Enhance local decisionmaking, collaboration, and
 
14           accountability;
 
15      (4)  Enhance local decisionmaking, collaboration, and
 
16           accountability.
 
17      (b)  The partnership planning team shall be composed of:
 
18      (1)  The governor's special assistant for children, youth,
 
19           and families;
 
20      (2)  The director of the department of health or the
 
21           designated representative;
 

 
 
 
 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (3)  The director of the department of human services or the
 
 2           designated representative;
 
 3      (4)  The superintendent of education or the designated
 
 4           representative;
 
 5      (5)  The director of the department of labor and industrial
 
 6           relations or the designated representative;
 
 7      (6)  The attorney general or the designated representative;
 
 8      (7)  The director of the office of youth services or the
 
 9           designated representative; and
 
10      (8)  A representative of the good beginnings alliance.
 
11      (c)  The partnership planning team shall:
 
12      (1)  Analyze a new department structure;
 
13      (2)  Discuss the transfer of the following to the new
 
14           department, including but not limited to:
 
15           (A)  Child welfare services of the department of human
 
16                services;
 
17           (B)  Child care functions, including employment/child
 
18                care benefits and the employment and support
 
19                services division, of the department of human
 
20                services;
 
21           (C)  The office of youth services;
 

 
 
 
 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           (D)  The child and adolescent mental health division of
 
 2                the department of health;
 
 3           (E)  The family health services division of the
 
 4                department of health;
 
 5           (F)  The health promotion and education division of the
 
 6                department of health;
 
 7           (G)  The Hawaii children's trust fund; and
 
 8           (H)  The office of community services;
 
 9      (3)  Discuss the establishment of an office of early
 
10           childhood education and care, within the new
 
11           department;
 
12      (4)  Ensure that its operating functions are aligned
 
13           according to management analysis;
 
14      (5)  Develop appropriate transitional plans;
 
15      (6)  Re-work positions descriptions;
 
16      (7)  Review personnel classifications;
 
17      (8)  Develop an organizational structure;
 
18      (9)  Prepare a proposed budget;
 
19     (10)  Attend to other administrative details of the new
 
20           department so that the new department can become
 
21           operational on July 1, 2000;
 
22     (11)  Make recommendations regarding the transfer to the new
 
23           department other children, youth, and family functions
 
24           and employees of the State; and
 

 
Page 5                                                     272
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1     (12)  Report its findings, recommendations, and proposed
 
 2           statutory language for the establishment of and
 
 3           departmental transfer to the department of children,
 
 4           youth, and families to the legislature no later than
 
 5           twenty days prior to the convening of the regular
 
 6           session of 2000.
 
 7     (d)  To ensure a smooth transition of programs and functions
 
 8 to the new department, the following timelines shall be adhered
 
 9 to:
 
10     (1)   The partnership planning team shall convene to plan the
 
11           implementation of the new department between July 1,
 
12           1999 - December 30, 1999;
 
13     (2)   The partnership planning team shall report its
 
14           findings, recommendations, and statutory language for
 
15           the establishment of and departmental transfer to the
 
16           department of children, youth, and families to the
 
17           legislature no later than December 30, 1999; and
 
18     (3)   The department of children, youth, and families shall
 
19           become operational and programs and functions shall be
 
20           transferred between July 1, 2000 - June 30, 2001.
 
21     (e)  The office of the governor shall provide staff support
 
22 to the partnership planning team in preparing its report as
 

 
 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 required by this Act.  All departments represented on the
 
 2 partnership planning team shall cooperate with the office of the
 
 3 governor to facilitate the purposes of this Act.
 
 4     (f)  The partnership planning team shall be abolished on June
 
 5 30, 2000.
 
 6      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.