HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	149
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

URGING SUPPORT FOR MALAMA O KAMALI`I MAKAMAE IN ITS EFFORTS TO DEVELOP CARE HOME FACILITIES FOR ENDANGERED YOUNG CHILDREN FROM LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS, INCLUDING NATIVE HAWAIIAN CHILDREN AT HIGH RISK.

     WHEREAS, Malama O Kamali`i Makamae (Protect and Honor Our Precious Children), a nonprofit organization, was organized for the purpose of helping children from low-income households, including native Hawaiian children, by developing and operating state of the art care facilities throughout the State of Hawai`i for children in imminent danger of their physical, emotional, mental, social, and educational well-being, the missing link preserving our na kamali`i o Hawaii nei; and

     WHEREAS, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 189, adopted by the Twenty-second Legislature, Regular Session of 2004, encourages the support of Malama O Kamali`i Makamae in its efforts to develop state-of-the-art care home facilities for needy children of Hawaiian ancestry who are 13 years old or younger; and

     WHEREAS, the State's foster care system, human and social services, and child protective and welfare agencies are still suffering from an overload of cases; and

     WHEREAS, tragic situations continue to adversely affect our children as others are added to the statistics of having been lost in the State's protective, welfare, education, community, and faith-based systems; and

     WHEREAS, traumas to survivors of these events are categorical indicators of physical, emotional, and mental distress, which negatively impact their growth and development, as well as their behavioral and learning abilities; and

     WHEREAS, Malama O Kamali`i Makamae's care facilities provide a wellness refuge for these individuals to begin their short- and long-term care needs in the Hawaiian cultural hanai ohana style project by providing a safe environment that promotes health and nutrition; and

     WHEREAS, due to the shortage of qualified state child care workers, too many children are neglected and fall through the cracks of the child protection and child welfare systems, and there are insufficient emergency care facilities to meet the growing need of very young children in imminent danger in their present living environment; and

     WHEREAS, Hawai`i's children of Hawaiian ancestry are at high risk of falling into the behavioral, lifestyle, and substance abuse patterns of their adult family members or other caregivers, and are also at imminent risk for their health, safety, well-being, and economic status in their present environment, which would affect their ability to grow, develop, and learn; and

     WHEREAS, the Kamehameha Schools' Ka Huaka`i Native Hawaiian Educational Assessment (2005) stated that academic disparities are pronounced in rural regions with high concentrations of native Hawaiians, and with a more rapid escalating rate of special education referrals than that of their peers at a rate of 18.5 percent or one of every five native Hawaiian students; and

     WHEREAS, native Hawaiian youth have a higher rate of depression, 34.5 percent, and are more likely to attempt suicide than their peers, at a rate of 22.6 percent; and

     WHEREAS, a study conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) found that "the child welfare agencies devoted most of their resources to investigation, foster care and permanent custody decisions while provisions of services to prevent the recurrence of child abuse/neglect was a lower budget priority"; and

     WHEREAS, the CASA study "found six critical weaknesses that gobble child welfare officials' efforts to protect the child" and also "noted that the child's development needs should take precedence over the timing of parental recovery"; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that this body supports the efforts of Malama O Kamali`i Makamae to develop and operate state-of-the-art care facilities for endangered young children from low-income households, including native Hawaiian children at high risk, which was a need recognized by the Joint House-Senate Task Force on Ice and Drug Abatement in 2004, to develop a drug endangered child protection program; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the child care and welfare service agencies of the Department of Human Services (DHS) are requested to partner with Malama O Kamali`i Makamae, as a pilot project and model, to assist these agencies with the overload of emergency care and other social and educational services to aforesaid children ages 0 to 13 years; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature recommends the child care and welfare service agencies of DHS and the Department of Health to add Malama O Kamali`i Makamae to their lists of authorized diversion services and community-based care service providers, and partner with Malama O Kamali`i Makamae for cost effective savings to the State's expenses, as indicated in the Department of Human Services' Financial Expenditure Report FY 2002-2003; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Director of Human Services, Director of Health, Deputy Director of Human Services, and the President of Malama O Kamali`i Makamae.

Report Title: 

Malama O Kamali`i Makamae; Support