STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1489

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   S.B. No. 914

      S.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Public Safety & Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 914, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES OF COMMITTED PERSONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to provide funds to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to remedy the inadequacies of mental health care services to committed persons in Hawaii state correctional facilities, including:

(1)  Inadequate staffing, including a lack of a Director of Mental Health Services and trained mental health professionals;

(2)  A lack of individualized treatment planning and documentation;

(3)  A confusing and inconsistent organizational structure;

(4)  Outdated and unused policies and procedures; and

(5)  Inadequate access to psychiatric hospitalization.

     The Department of the Attorney General, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, Community Alliance on Prisons, and a concerned individual supported this bill.  DPS submitted comments.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety & Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 914, S.D. 2, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety & Military Affairs,

____________________________

SHARON E. HAR, Acting Chair and Vice Chair