RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, increasingly, legislators, policy decision makers, providers, caregivers, and the elderly are becoming aware of the growing needs for senior services as the number of seniors increases rapidly with each new year; and

WHEREAS, presently, the State's senior population over the age of eighty-five is increasing at a rate two to three times more rapidly than the rest of the nation; and

WHEREAS, as a percentage of the total population of Honolulu, during the period 1990-2000, the number of people eighty-five and over grew seventy-three per cent while the rate of growth of the entire population was only 4.7 per cent; and

WHEREAS, from 2000 to 2010, the eighty-five and over segment of the population is expected to grow at a rate of seventy-six per cent while the rest of the population is expected to grow at 11.9 per cent; and

WHEREAS, assuming that 17.2 per cent of the population is over the age of sixty, according to estimates from the City and County of Honolulu Elderly Affairs Division, it can be estimated that, on Oahu, the condominium population of persons over the age of sixty is 41,108; and

WHEREAS, of this number, approximately 2.3 per cent or 5,497 are over the age of eighty-five and are often in need of critical care and services; and

WHEREAS, within the Honolulu area, over thirty per cent of the housing units were built before the 1970s and, therefore, many of the original owner-occupants are retired and in their seventies and eighties; and

WHEREAS, at a time when government resources are stretched thin, there is a continuous need to identify new and creative ways of financing long-term care; and

WHEREAS, the State Executive Office on Aging has instituted a method of providing relatively cost-effective and affordable home and community-based services on a sliding fee scale to those between one hundred and three hundred per cent of the federal poverty level; and

WHEREAS, known as KupunaCare, this program contracts with service providers for eight types of home and community-based services such as assisted transportation, short-term case management, adult day care, attendant care, chore services, home delivered meals, homemaker or housekeeper, and personal care; and

WHEREAS, in addition, an area of growing interest is the need for more supportive services for naturally occurring retirement communities; and

WHEREAS, a naturally occurring retirement community refers to an apartment building, housing complex, or geographic community not originally built for seniors but where many individuals have aged in place; and

WHEREAS, naturally occurring retirement communities are thus forming without planned infrastructure or services; and

WHEREAS, increasingly, efforts are being made to address the need for supportive services for those individuals living in naturally occurring retirement communities; and

WHEREAS, while there are no regular funding streams from government to finance supportive services in naturally occurring retirement communities, there is an urgent need to start the planning and development work in this area; and

WHEREAS, this planning should include not only an assessment of the pervasiveness and characteristics of the need for naturally occurring retirement communities, but also training to sensitize all owner-occupants and community residents about aging issues so that community associations can be engaged to participate in the problem solving process; and

WHEREAS, over the past three to four years, one condominium has become an assisted living facility; and

WHEREAS, this has resulted in a significant number of legal challenges, legislation, hearings, and a Department of Health study, the results of which were reported to the 2004 Regular Session of the Legislature; and

WHEREAS, other condominiums have been considering less drastic alternatives, but nevertheless these are indicators of the growing needs of a frail senior population; and

WHEREAS, in response to this growing concern, a public-private conference was convened in October 2003, to begin the process of listening to owner-occupants and identifying additional approaches and initiatives that need to be considered to meet this "silent" problem that exists within "gated communities"; and

WHEREAS, while historically, condominium associations have principally focused on issues like noise, neighborly disturbances, and facility maintenance issues, there has been little, if any, consideration of senior service needs; and

WHEREAS, there is a significant need to assist these communities to become better acquainted with aging trends, issues, and services than they are presently aware of; and

WHEREAS, likewise, there is a need to identify necessary elder care services, eliminate barriers, and create new internal resources to facilitate the provision of supportive care to enable aging-in-place; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Executive Office on Aging, in collaboration with the Real Estate Commission, is requested to convene a task force to develop a program and reference guide to assist in the dissemination of information regarding the issues, needs, and concerns related to aging-in-place, particularly in condominiums, housing cooperatives, and other high density living environments; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to identify issues and problems that inhibit the establishment of naturally occurring retirement communities and provide potential solutions on how condominium and housing associations and other real property organizations may be able to expedite and pursue the most cost-effective avenue in order to resolve these issues and problems; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in addition to representatives of the Executive Office on Aging and the Real Estate Commission, the Legislature requests that the task force membership include representatives from:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to submit a report on its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature at least twenty days prior to the convening of the 2006 Regular Session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Real Estate Commission and to the Executive Office on Aging, which in turn are requested to transmit copies to the Elderly Affairs Division of the City and County of Honolulu, the Assisted Living Options Hawaii, Catholic Charities Elderly Services, the Hawaii Council of Associations of Resident Managers, the Community Association Institute – Hawaii Chapter, Association of American Retired Persons, Hawaii Independent Condominiums and Cooperative Owners, Hawaii Long Term Care Association, Hawaii Council of Association of Apartment Owners, and Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

Report Title:

Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities