THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	48
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		H.D. 2
		C.D. 1

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO PROVIDE AN ANALYSIS OF THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF OPERATIONS AND SERVICES THE HAWAII DISABILITY RIGHTS CENTER IS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE, AND THE PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES IT IS AUTHORIZED TO EMPLOY, PURSUANT TO STATE AND FEDERAL LAW, RULES, REGULATIONS, AND EXECUTIVE ORDERS.

     WHEREAS, Congress created a nationwide protection and advocacy system for individuals with developmental disabilities under the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, as amended, to aid individuals with developmental disabilities or mental illness and their families in gaining access to appropriate support and services; and

     WHEREAS, states are required to designate an agency or entity to provide advocacy services to persons with developmental disabilities and mental illness in order to receive federal funds for programs for these persons; and

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii Disabilities Rights Center, (Center), is the agency designated under section 333F-8.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to provide advocacy services to persons with developmental disabilities or mental illness; and

     WHEREAS, section 333F-8.5(c), Hawaii Revised Statutes, provides that the Center shall have access to all records of any person with developmental disabilities or mental illness, to the extent required by federal law; and

     WHEREAS, there is an ongoing dispute as to whether the federal law that provides the Center access to records overrides the privacy rights of persons receiving services and their families, with or without the appropriate waivers of these privacy rights; and

     WHEREAS, there is an ongoing dispute concerning the justification necessary for the Center to demand access to records of persons with disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, the Center's need for access to records should be balanced to the greatest extent possible against the ability of service providers to allocate their limited personnel resources to both provide services to persons with disabilities and to produce documents in response to requests for records and other information; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Attorney General is requested to provide an analysis of the nature and scope of operations and services that the Hawaii Disability Rights Center is required to provide, and the practices and procedures it is authorized to employ, pursuant to federal and state law, regulations, rules, and executive orders; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in the analysis, the Attorney General is requested to:

     (1)  Provide an outline of the legal authority that grants the Center access to:

          (A)  Facilities serving individuals with disabilities;

          (B)  Individuals with disabilities; and

          (C)  The records of the individuals with disabilities;

     (2)  Describe, after conferring with the National Disability Rights Network, the federal Center for Mental Health Services, and the federal Administration on Developmental Disabilities, the inter-relationship between the aforementioned legal authority and the laws protecting the privacy of individuals and their records, including but not limited to the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; and

     (3)  Describe, after conferring with the appropriate federal agencies, the inter-relationship between the rights and responsibilities of natural and legal guardians respecting individuals with disabilities and those of the Center respecting these individuals; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Attorney General is requested to report on, in light of the law that governs the Center's operations, best practices identified in other jurisdictions regarding the manner in which the Center should conduct investigations of allegations of abuse or neglect of an individual with developmental disabilities or mental illness, including how, when, and under what circumstances the investigations are undertaken; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Attorney General is requested to submit the requested analysis and any recommended legislation, proposed administrative rules, or audit as deemed necessary, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2008; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the United States Department of Education, the Attorney General, the Director of Health, the Director of Human Services, the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations, the National Disability Rights Network, the Center for Mental Health Services, the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, and the Hawaii Disabilities Rights Center.

Report Title: 

Hawaii Disabilities Rights Center; Operations and Services