Report Title:

Paperwork Reduction; Task Force to Assess Felix and Special Ed

WHEREAS, the coordination of the delivery of services for exceptional children and Felix class children and adolescents is often a multi-agency and multi-provider process; and

WHEREAS, these services and their requirements differ, even when an individual may be receiving services both as an exceptional child and as a Felix class child; and

WHEREAS, these procedures and requirements also involve extensive paperwork that may be duplicative, and in some cases, contradictory; and

WHEREAS, these differing procedures and requirements are difficult for providers and families alike; and

WHEREAS, the child may not receive the most appropriate services as a result; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, requests establishment of a task force to assess and determine ways to reduce the paperwork and duplicative process requirements related to exceptional children and Felix class children and adolescents; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that members of the task force shall include representatives of the Department of Education, including school principals, counselors, and teachers, Department of Health, and private sector agencies working with exceptional children or Felix-class children; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education and the Director of Health.