Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2175 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate $632,214 in fiscal year 2002-2003 for thirteen new positions to staff adult protective services.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Human Services and the Executive Office of Aging.

Your Committee finds that there are 207,001 older adults over the age of sixty in this State according to the latest Census. Overall, abuse has been estimated to affect 2,000 or less of the aged and disabled population. The Department of Human Services is in charge of investigation and curbing financial exploitation of dependent adults, and currently they are under staffed.

Although the Department testified that the appropriation is not necessary at this time because of federal funds availability, your Committee believes that this is an important issue and this legislature should ensure that state funds will be provided. Your Committee further finds that this measure is more comprehensive in hiring thirteen new hires, while the federal funds will only provide for three. Your Committee would like to see these services reach the neighbor islands and this measure provides specific language to ensure this.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2175 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.