Makes an appropriation to provide for the establishment of geographic partnerships whereby alternative shelter and care resources are locationally accessible and organizationally coordinated.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. Traditional assessments of the unmet housing needs of low-income older adults have focused primarily on the unaffordability or physical disrepair of their dwellings. Government, however, has a responsibility to respond to growing populations of seniors who are not only poor and living in inadequate housing, but also who are experiencing physical and cognitive disabilities and chronic health problems that make it difficult for them to live independently in their current dwellings without help.

The legislature finds that Hawaii faces a number of economic, social, and political challenges in its attempt to offer affordable shelter and care options for its low-income frail elderly population. The State's efforts to respond effectively are complicated by greatly increased numbers of frail and low-income older adults, its tight and very expensive housing market, its high land and building costs, its failure to receive adequate federal housing program subsidies, an island geography that makes service integration and delivery more difficult and expensive, its already small and overtaxed nursing home inventory that cannot easily be cut back to save long-term care expenditures, its failure to encourage partnerships with private-pay assisted living facility providers, its medicaid budget that will have difficulty funding a steadily growing need for affordable shelter and care options, and the very real prospect that family caregiving will steadily weaken.

The purpose of this Act is to increase the shelter and care opportunities for Hawaii's seniors by requiring the Hawaii public housing administration to establish "geographic partnerships" for alternative senior housing.

SECTION 2. The Hawaii public housing administration shall establish "geographic partnerships" whereby alternative shelter and care resources are locationally accessible and organizationally coordinated.

Geographic partnerships may include: the sharing of vans or buses currently operated by different government and nonprofit groups; the visiting of multiple rental facilities by mobile health service teams, the location of adult day care facilities on or near the sites of affordable rent-assisted facilities; and several rent-assisted housing facilities pooling their buying power to enter into mutually beneficial arrangements with home health providers, pharmacies, malls, or grocery and other retail stores.

The Hawaii public housing administration shall initiate meetings between public, quasi-public, and private housing and service providers located within the same geographic area to address common service delivery concerns.

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $25,000, or so much as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007, for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii public housing administration for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that section 3 shall take effect on July 1, 2006.