STAND. COM. REP. NO. 387

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1206

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Human Services and Public Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 1206 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CAREGIVING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to provide respite care for caregivers of our elderly population.

     Specifically, this measure appropriates an unspecified sum for each year of the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium, for the development and implementation of a pilot program to provide emergency and evening respite care for adults aged sixty and older with physical or cognitive disabilities.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Health and the Executive Office on Aging, and Hawaii Aging Advocates Coalition.

     Your Committee finds that respite care provides much needed temporary relief to caregivers to reduce the individual and family strain they experience on a daily basis.  Respite care provides time for caregivers to attend to their own needs, attend classes to learn caregiving skills, participate in support groups, and attend to other business or unexpected emergencies.

     Your Committee further finds that, respite services are short in supply and can be inaccessible to families due to eligibility requirements, social and cultural issues, and geographic and economic barriers.

     Your Committee further finds that the benefits of keeping families together and the growing number of our elder population merit the funding for the pilot program provided by this measure.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services and Public Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1206 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services and Public Housing,

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair