HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	147
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

REquesting the department of human services and the department of education to provide additional outreach services to homeless children in Hawaii.

     WHEREAS, approximately fifteen per cent of the homeless population in Hawaii are children; and

     WHEREAS, almost one thousand eight hundred children resided in emergency and transitional shelters in Hawaii in 2004-2005; and

     WHEREAS, approximately one thousand children ages five through seventeen enrolled in school in Hawaii in 2006 were homeless; and

     WHEREAS, homeless children are especially vulnerable to malnutrition, physical abuse, disease, sexual exploitation, illiteracy, and drug abuse; and

     WHEREAS, the risks to homeless children become more acute where the child suffers from a disability or has special needs; and

     WHEREAS, homeless children frequently lack access to basic needs and services such as food, clothing, shelter, health care, and education; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, that the Department of Human Services is requested to develop programs to provide medical check-ups for homeless children upon arrival at homeless shelters, schedule educational activities within the shelter for homeless children, and provide shelter employees with training to address the special needs of children; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services is requested to:

     (1)  Provide outreach services to homeless children who do not live in shelters;

     (2)  Increase services targeted to homeless Filipino children;

     (3)  Increase funding to its homeless liaison office that provides assistance to homeless children;

     (4)  Provide financial assistance to the Hale Kipa Youth Services Project that serves homeless youth in Waikiki and Urban Honolulu; and

     (5)  Increase efforts to provide basic services and assistance to homeless children, including food, shelter, health, and education, and also to address issues that affect homeless children such as abuse, neglect, exploitation, mental illness, drug abuse, and the special needs of children with disabilities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Human Services, the Superintendent of Education, and the Chairperson of the Board of Education.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Outreach Services to Homeless Children in Hawaii