STAND. COM. REP. NO. 978
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2005
RE: S.B. No. 790
S.D. 2
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2005
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 790, S.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECKS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to protect the safety and well being of our senior and disabled residents by providing for criminal history record checks for those who care for these individuals.
Specifically, the bill:
(1) Establishes that applicants and operators of health facilities that care for senior or disabled adults shall be subject to criminal history record checks;
(2) Authorizes the Department of Health to revoke, suspend, or deny a license or impose penalties or fines if individuals subject to criminal history record checks refuse to allow such a check;
(3) Establishes that licensed adult day care center operators, purchase of service contractor and subcontractors providing adult and community care services, several senior programs, and home and community based service providers are subject to criminal history record checks;
(4) Expands exemptions from prohibition against inquiry into and consideration of an individual's criminal convictions for employment suitability determinations to also exempt the Department of Health pursuant to section 321- ;
(5) Expands criminal history record checks authorized to be conducted pursuant to section 846-2.7 to include the:
(A) Department of Health on applicants, operators, employees, and volunteers of certain licensed facilities that care for seniors or disabled individuals; and
(B) Department of Human Services on licensed adult day care center operators, employees, subcontracted service providers and their employees, and volunteers; service providers and employees servicing clients of adult and community care services; certain senior programs participants; providers and employees that provide home and community based services; and
(6) Appropriates revenues to the Department of Health for the purpose of this measure.
Your Committee finds that the Legislature should take all reasonable efforts to promote the safety, health, and well being of our senior and disabled residents who receive health care and services from individuals licensed by the State. This population is very vulnerable to abuse and the background checks established by this measure will help to screen out individuals who should not be employed in close proximity to seniors or the disabled.
Your Committee has amended this measure to:
(1) Add "expanded adult residential care home" to the definition of "health care facility";
(2) Change the title of proposed section 346- from "Background checks" to "Criminal history record checks";
(3) Delete certain consent, fingerprint, and use requirements and procedures relating to criminal history record checks as duplicative and unnecessary because those procedures or requirements currently are provided in chapter 846, Hawaii Revised Statutes;
(4) Expand employers exempted from conditional inquiries into an individual's conviction record in employment decisions to include the Department of Human Services, pursuant to proposed section 346- , and the Department of Health, pursuant to proposed section 321- ;
(5) Authorize the Department of Human Services and the Department of Health to conduct criminal history record checks in accordance with section 846-2.7, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and
(6) Make technical nonsubstantive amendments for clarity and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 790, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 790, S.D. 2.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,
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____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair |
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