STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1744

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.R. No. 27

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Public Safety and Education, to which was referred S.R. No. 27 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR INCARCERATED PERSONS TO ASSIST WITH THEIR TRANSITION BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY UPON RELEASE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to decrease the recidivism rate to Hawaii correctional facilities.

     Specifically, this measure requests the Department of Education to establish:

     (1)  Special schooling or programs to encourage and provide opportunities for inmates exiting prison to obtain a general education development diploma to increase an inmate's opportunities to obtain employment in the community;

     (2)  A special school or schools at appropriate locations to accomplish the general education development school initiative;

     (3)  A permanent, personalized educational and job preparation plan for parolees and other released persons who express a desire for additional education to prepare for gainful employment; and

     (4)  A voluntary data tracking system that is developed and maintained in conjunction with the Department of Public Safety to identify successful educational components.

     The measure requests the Department of Public Safety to establish:

     (1)  Distance learning programs for inmates still incarcerated to facilitate educational opportunities;

     (2)  Programs, developed in conjunction with the Department of Education, to assist inmates with the continuation of educational plans and preparation for gainful employment upon release; and

     (3)  A voluntary data tracking system that is developed and maintained in conjunction with the department of education to identify successful educational components.

     This measure also requires the both departments to report on the establishment of these programs and systems to the Legislature before the 2008 Regular Session.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Community Alliance on Prisons, and four individuals.  Testimony supporting the intent of this measure was submitted by the Department of Education.  Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Department of Public Safety.

     Your Committees find that there is an unacceptably high rate of recidivism to correctional facilities in Hawaii.  Your Committees further find that the recidivism rate is largely due to the many problems former inmates face with reentry into the community upon release.  These problems include workplace and housing restrictions as well as societal prejudices.

     Your Committees further find that the recidivism rate could be drastically reduced if incarcerated persons are given educational opportunities.  Those educational opportunities would be most successful if they are begun during incarceration and continued through the transitional period of reentry.

     Your Committees further find that the cost of recidivism is both economically and socially high.  Therefore, it is important to the public interest that the Departments of Education and Public Safety work together to establish educational programs that address the needs of the incarcerated persons during their incarceration and reentry periods.

     However, your Committees further find that some of the educational programs called for in this measure may already exist, but are not being used to their fullest potential. 

     This measure has been amended to:

     (1)  Include the existing programs at Kulani Correctional Facility as a positive example of continued educational training for former offenders;

     (2)  Delete the requirement of establishing separate schooling or programs and special schools;

     (3)  Substitute an examination of the feasibility to integrate the existing data bases in the Departments of Education and Public Safety for requesting the establishment of a new system for offender and former offender educational tracking;

     (4)  Include the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Adult Mental Health Division of the Department of Health in developing the permanent, personalized educational and job placement plans and to expand such planning to include soon-to-be-released inmates;

     (5)  Include the examination of the uses, feasibility, and costs of establishing counseling positions shared between the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Education to assist inmates in their transition to schooling post-release;

     (6)  Request a report from the Department of Public Safety on existing educational programs and its needs to improve and expand the programs; and

     (7)  Changing the title to reflect these amendments.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Education that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 27, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 27, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Education,

____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair

____________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair