HCR188 HD2

WHEREAS, the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging has estimated that up to 5,000,000 adults each year are victims of neglect, exploitation, or other abuse; and

WHEREAS, other studies indicate that up to six per cent of the national population of older adults has experienced some type of abuse, neglect, or exploitation; and

WHEREAS, there is no national, uniform reporting system to document the numbers of older Americans who experience abuse, so the number of these individuals can only be estimated; and

WHEREAS, adult protective services are mandated for adult victims of abuse in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia; and

WHEREAS, the eligible recipients of these services vary by jurisdiction; and

WHEREAS, in most states, services are provided to any vulnerable adult, while in other states the services are provided only to individuals age 60 years and older or to younger individuals with disabilities; and

WHEREAS, results of a recent Elder Abuse Incidence Study shed light on a significant problem of elder abuse and neglect among elders living in their own homes who have gone largely unidentified and unnoticed; and

WHEREAS, the study noted that only one in five new incidents of abuse, neglect, or self‑neglect are reported to adult protective services agencies; and

WHEREAS, here in Hawaii, adult protective services provide crisis intervention, investigation, and emergency services to dependent adults who are reported to be abused, neglected, or financially exploited by others or seriously endangered due to self‑neglect; and

WHEREAS, there are just over 84,000 elders who are 75 years or older in Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, national estimates of the frequency of abuse towards this population range from five to ten per cent, which suggests that there may be 4,000 or more cases of abuse in Hawaii each year; and

WHEREAS, however, the Department of Human Services indicates that in 2006, it investigated 514 cases, which suggests a large gap between those receiving services and those possibly experiencing abuse; and

WHEREAS, according to the University of Hawaii Center on the Family, between 2000 and 2030, the number of adults in Hawaii who will be 60 years and older will increase by 93.8 per cent and those 85 years and older will increase by 174 per cent; this, in turn, will result in a small proportion of children and younger adults in relation to those 60 years and older; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii's adult protective services law has been described in recent newspaper articles as one of the most restrictive in the nation; and

WHEREAS, there has also been concern regarding whether any changes to the current Adult Protective Services Law would result in an increased case load and consequential strain on case workers; 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 the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to study other states' adult protective services and compare them to Hawaii's adult protective services; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in completing the study, the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to:

(1) Examine the other states' adult protective services laws and their implementation in the respective states; and

(2) Obtain information regarding:

(A) The total number of cases reported to the adult protective services of each state and the ratio of cases per capita for each state;

(B) What changes to Hawaii's adult protective services law would need to be made to make the applicability of Hawaii's law more comparable to those in other states; and

(C) The estimated increase or decrease in the number of cases that would be reported in Hawaii as a result of those changes;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit a report of its findings to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2008 Regular Session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Acting Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Report Title:

Adult Protective Services; Legislative Reference Bureau Study

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	188
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII