HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	212
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO ENCOURAGE EACH ADULT RESIDENTIAL CARE HOME LICENSE APPLICANT TO OFFER TO MAKE A PRESENTATION TO THE RELEVANT NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD IN WHOSE DISTRICT THE HOME IS LOCATED.

     WHEREAS, adult residential care homes provide community-based care for a fee to persons who cannot live independently, such as those who are aged, disabled, or mentally ill; and

     WHEREAS, the Department of Health licenses two types of adult residential care homes in Hawaii – type I, which may have five or fewer residents unrelated to the home operator, and type II, which may have six or more of such residents; and

     WHEREAS, under section 46-4(d), Hawaii Revised Statutes, a county cannot enact an ordinance that prohibits group living in an adult residential care home by eight or fewer residents unrelated to the home operator; and

     WHEREAS, section 46-4(d), Hawaii Revised Statutes, is generally taken to mean that a county may not enact a zoning ordinance that makes an adult residential care home an impermissible use in a district zoned residential or that imposes a separation between adult residential care homes of a specified minimum distance; and

     WHEREAS, adult residential care homes provide an important public service, the need for which will only increase in the future as the population of Hawaii ages; and

     WHEREAS, adult residential care homes are necessary as a more appropriate and less expensive alternative setting for persons who cannot live independently but do not exhibit infirmities severe enough to require institutional nursing care; and

     WHEREAS, despite the public need for and benefit of adult residential care homes, some communities become concerned when homes are perceived to be excessively concentrated in their neighborhoods; and

     WHEREAS, these community concerns and fears can be addressed and mitigated by the presentation to the public of accurate information on the proposed locations and planned operations of adult care homes before their licensure; and

     WHEREAS, on Oahu, the neighborhood board system is available for the making of such presentations; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, that the Department of Health is requested to encourage each adult care home license applicant to offer to make an informational and educational presentation to the relevant neighborhood board in whose district the applicant's proposed home and planned operation is to be located; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to encourage each adult care home license applicant to submit the offer to the relevant neighborhood board as early as possible before a decision on licensure; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to submit to the Legislature at least twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2009 a report on the Department's action taken; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health and the Executive Secretary of the Honolulu Neighborhood Commission, who in turn is requested to distribute copies to all neighborhood board chairs.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Adult Residential Care Homes; Neighborhood Board Presentations