STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3309

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 105

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Public Housing and Public Safety, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 105 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION CALLING ON THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO CONVENE A TASK FORCE TO ESTABLISH A PROTOCOL AND TRAINING PROGRAM FOR FIRST RESPONDERS IN CHILD PROTECTIVE AWARENESS SKILLS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to request that the Department of Human Services convene a task force to establish protocols and training programs for first responders to use when coming into contact with children who may be the victims of or who are at risk for child abuse.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Human Services.

     Your Committees find that first responders have the ability to enter into a wide variety of situations and must be able to respond appropriately if a child is present who has been harmed or who may be at risk for child abuse.  To ensure the continued safety of such children, first responders need to be trained to assess and identify situations for which protective protocols may be appropriate.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Incorporating the comments made by the Department of Human Services to allow for additional types of first responders to participate in the training programs, include in the initial report to the Legislature the "estimated costs of implementation", rather than a report on the implementation, and a clause stating that, in order to avoid task force duplication, if H.B. No. 2596, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, is enacted into law in the current legislative session, then the task force described in this measure will be incorporated into the task force required by that Act; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments to the measure and its title for the purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Public Housing and Public Safety that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 105, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 105, S.D. 1.

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

____________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair