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. 2553 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for outreach services for the homeless on Oahu.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT), Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Special Assistant to the Governor for Housing, Institute for Human Services, Inc., Parents and Children Together, Mental Health Association in Hawai'i, Hawaii Psychiatric Medical Association, Volunteer Legal Services Hawai'i, Moilili Community Center, Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance, and three private citizens.

Your Committee finds that the dynamic of homelessness is beyond simple solutions and expedient remedies. Building shelters is one part of a much larger scheme of providing comprehensive social services, because homelessness is often a symptom of poverty and mental illness. In order to remedy this problem, outreach social workers are necessary to identify the homeless, make contact with them, assess their needs, advise them of help, and persuade them to seek assistance and shelter. This measure is intended to provide funding to hire more outreach workers.

To allow greater latitude and reach of the funding, your Committee has amended this measure on the recommendation of DBEDT to provide that the funds are for "outreach services throughout the State" not only for two workers on Oahu.

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. 2553, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2553, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.