STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1411

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 141

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Health, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 141 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO CONVENE A STATEWIDE TASK FORCE TO ADVISE THE LEGISLATURE ON METHODS TO IMPROVE HAWAII'S MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to request the Department of Human Services to convene a statewide task force to advise the Legislature on methods to improve Hawaii's mental health services.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness - Hawaii, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, Hawaii Primary Care Association, Mental Health America of Hawaii, Kahi Mohala Behavioral Health, and two individuals.  Testimony in opposition was submitted by the Department of Human Services.  Written testimony presented to your Committees may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

     The National Alliance on Mental Illness issued "A Report on America's Health Care System for Adults with Serious Mental Illness" which uses measurable criteria and comprehensively examines each state's responses to mental illnesses.  Your Committees find that convening a task force to analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of other state's programs, as reported, will ensure that strategies implemented in Hawaii have the benefit of other state's experiences.  Additionally, in light of the current economic crisis, careful attention must be given to Hawaii's mental health delivery system to ensure its continued effectiveness.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Addressing the concerns of the Department of Human Services and changing in the title and text of the measure the convening agency to the Department of Health, which administers mental health services for Hawaii; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity. 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 141, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 141, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Health,

____________________________ DAVID Y. IGE, Chair

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair