STAND. COM. REP. NO. 391

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1916

       S.D. 1

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. 1916 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CAREGIVING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to strengthen the support of family caregivers by:

     (1)  Extending and expanding the responsibilities of the Joint Legislative Committee on Family Caregiving;

     (2)  Requiring the Executive Office on Aging to conduct a comprehensive assessment of care recipients' needs and the needs of their family caregivers; and

     (3)  Appropriating funds to expand Kupuna Care Services for care recipients and their family caregivers.

     The Department of Health submitted testimony in support of the intent of this measure.  The Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs, Hawai‘i Alliance for Retired Americans, Occupational Therapy Association of Hawaii, Hawaii Aging Advocates Coalition, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142, and Child and Family Service submitted testimony in support of this measure.

     Your Committee received a fiscal impact statement from the Department of Health that this measure, if passed, would cost the State approximately $500,000 for fiscal year 2007-2008, and $500,000 for fiscal year 2008-2009, for the Kupuna Care Program; and an unspecified appropriation of general funds for fiscal year 2007-2008 to conduct the comprehensive needs assessment.  However, the fiscal impact statement submitted did not specify the methodology by which the fiscal impact was calculated.

     Your Committee finds that, due to a shortage of care providers in Hawaii, family caregiving has become a critical element of our health and long-term care system.  By 2020, more than one in four individuals is expected to be sixty years old or older.  The need for personal care assistance due to physical, sensory, cognitive, and self-care disabilities increases with age.  As Hawaii's population ages, many more families will be providing higher levels of long-term care to frail and disabled older adults at home.  A comprehensive public policy to strengthen support for family caregivers is essential.

     It is the Committee's intent to strengthen the support of family caregivers.  Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying that the Family Caregiver Support Program offers services for family caregivers;

     (2)  Changing the expending agency in section 5 of the measure from the Department of Health to the Senate and the House of Representatives to expedite the allocation of the appropriated funds for the Executive Office on Aging to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment;

     (3)  Increasing the appropriation to expand the Kupuna Care Services Program's in-home and access services from $500,000 to $750,000;

     (4)  Appropriating the sum of $300,000, for fiscal year 2007-2008, and the same sum for fiscal year 2008-2009, for the Family Caregiver Support Program; and

     (5)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

     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. 1916, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1916, S.D. 1, 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