Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1138 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for several criminal justice programs associated with the intermediate sanctions program.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Judiciary, State Attorney General, Department of Public Safety, Department of Health, Hawaii Paroling Authority, Office of the Public Defender, Community Alliance on Prisons, and American Civil Liberties Union. Testimony in opposition was received from Hawaii Moms and Dads 4 Kids.

This measure appropriates funds as follows:

The measure also authorizes the Judiciary to establish one full-time program coordinator position for the Interagency Council on Intermediate Sanctions in FY 04-05, and authorizes the Department of Public Safety to establish one full-time mental health assessor position to perform mental health assessments on offenders during the FY 03-05 biennium.

Act 25, Session Laws of Hawaii 1995 (Special Session), added new sections to the chapters in the Hawaii Revised Statutes governing probation, corrections, and parole entitled "Intermediate Sanctions." Through this Act, state policy mandates that the Judiciary, the Department of Public Safety, and the Hawaii Paroling Authority implement "a comprehensive schedule of alternatives to incarceration that do not undermine public safety."

The Judiciary has continued to plan for expansion of its intermediate sanctions options. Chief Justice Ronald T.Y. Moon approved the Judiciary's broadened effort to enhance the use of intermediate sanctions. By order of the court, the Interagency Council on Intermediate Sanctions was formed in January 2002 and includes the Judiciary, the Departments of Health, Public Safety, and Attorney General, the Hawaii Paroling Authority, the Office of the Public Defender, the Honolulu Police Department, and the Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney. The vision of the Council is a thirty per cent reduction of recidivism among its adult offenders and the prevention of future victimization of its citizens through an improved criminal justice system.

The work of the Council is based on research-based evidence of effective correctional interventions. Known as the "what works" approach to correctional programs, evaluation of hundreds of programs provided to offenders nation-wide has resulted in the form of guiding principles that address offenders' risk, need, and responsivity. The risk principle seeks to identify who should receive treatment, the criminogenic need principle focuses on what the treatment should be, and the responsivity principle underscores the importance of how treatment should be delivered.

Your Committee finds that the Council's plan is to have, in order, as follows:

The Council's intent is to have a continuum of services that match the offender's risk and needs and are delivered by programs that emphasize qualities to improve offender problem-solving and emotional regulation. The Department of Health serves as the Council's liaison for treatment services and for collaborating with the participating council members on the quality assurance infrastructure.

This measure provides funding to members of the Interagency Council on Intermediate Sanctions to carry out its five-year strategic plan to reduce adult offender recidivism and in the process, to institutionalize the collaborated enhancements to Hawaii's criminal justice system. The Judiciary, Department of Public Safety, and Hawaii Paroling Authority will require funding to implement and continue its screening and assessment of offenders, to train its staff on best practices, to form the continuum of services, and to meet the quality assurance requirements in assessment and treatment services. The Department of Attorney General will require funding to conduct research on the effectiveness of the council's plan, to facilitate collaborative networks that support the offenders, and to assist with quality assurance requirements in assessment and treatment services.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1138 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.