Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2713 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for SageWatch to adopt the former Kupuna ID Project as part of its outreach services.

Your Committee received testimony in support of the measure from the Department of the Attorney General, the Executive Office on Aging, the County of Kauai Agency on Elderly Affairs, Kauai Search and Rescue, and the Alzheimer's Association.

Your Committee finds that the Kupuna ID program is still operational within the Department of the Attorney General, Crime Prevention and Justice Assistance Division; however, because of limited funding, its outreach efforts are limited to providing Kupuna ID cards to senior citizens at community events that attract a large number of senior participants. Your Committee further finds that transferring the program to the Executive Office on Aging's SageWatch Program will enable additional outreach and services through expansion of the program by funding two support positions for outreach efforts and to create and maintain a database or registry available to assist Hawaii's seniors who may become lost, temporarily disoriented, ill, or injured.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended the purpose section to reflect the fact that the program was not abolished and is still active.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2713, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2713, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.