Report Title:

Public Hearing; State Funded Facilities

WHEREAS, social service facilities play a very important role in our society with rehabilitative services and group living for the elderly and disabled; and

WHEREAS, although these services are important, the rights of the neighbors of these social service facilities are many times not considered; and

WHEREAS, in some neighborhoods, these social service facilities have disrupted the neighborhood peace; and

WHEREAS, some of these social service facilities have not addressed concerns from the neighborhood regarding the safety and security of residents adjacent to theses facilities; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, that any state government sponsored or funded social service facility is requested to conduct a public hearing prior to permitting the operation of a social service facility in a residential neighborhood; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the notice be given at least fifteen days in advance of any public hearing and sent to all persons residing within one city block of the proposed social service facility, and to the neighborhood board, if any, covering the affected residential area; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that for the purpose of this Resolution, "social service facility" includes group homes, halfway houses, boarding houses, homes for children, the elderly, battered children and adults, recovery homes, independent group living facilities, hospice convalescent homes, nursing homes and sanitariums; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that every person attending the public hearing be given the opportunity to testify; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Department of Human Services, all State Departments which sponsor or fund social service facilities, and all neighborhood boards.