THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2805
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO CLEAN AND SOBER AND HALFWAY HOME REGULATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that clean and sober homes and halfway houses provide a means for persons to return to the community through support in a less structured home-like environment but without the structure of a therapeutic care facility or therapeutic living program.  Persons being released from incarceration in locked jail or prison facilities especially need the support of a home environment while trying to deal with the stressors of reintegrating back into society while maintaining sobriety.  The legislature also finds that there is a community concern regarding having such homes in their immediate vicinity, and their concerns must be tempered with the needs of the individuals requiring support.

     The purpose of this Act is to establish a task force to determine how best to balance the interests of all parties involved, to define what a clean and sober home and halfway home is, and how to most effectively require accountability from these home short of requiring licensure and direct governmental oversight.

     SECTION 2.  There is established a temporary task force, exempt from section 26-34, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to:

     (1)  Determine the definition of a clean and sober home;

     (2)  Determine the definition of a halfway home;

     (3)  Define the needs and concerns of the community with reference to these homes being in their immediate vicinity;

     (4)  Determine the needs of individuals requiring the support services of clean and sober and halfway homes;

     (5)  Find the most appropriate way to balance the needs of the community and of the individuals requiring support; and

     (6)  Develop procedures and protocols for making such homes accountable yet not requiring formal licensure.

     SECTION 3.  The task force membership shall include a representative from each of the following

     (1)  The department of health;

     (2)  The Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition;

     (3)  Hope, Help and Healing Kauai;

     (4)  Hina Mauka;

     (5)  Ka Hale Pomaika‘i;

     (6)  Aloha House, Inc.;

     (7)  The Community Alliance on Prisons; and

     (8)  Oxford House, Inc.

The department of health shall be the chair of the task force and shall convene and oversee its activities.  The task force shall report to the legislature on the scope and nature of the accountability plan for the clean and sober and halfway houses, the process by which the houses will be monitored, the way in which concerns of community members are balanced with concerns of those requiring the support of the homes, and how the homes will be regulated short of direct governmental oversight.

     SECTION 4.  The task force shall submit to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2011, a report on the recommendations of the task force and any proposed legislation that may be necessary to effectuate those recommendations.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Report Title:

Regulating Clean and Sober Homes and Halfway Houses; Task Force

Description:

Creates a task force headed by the department of health to determine how to best regulate clean and sober and halfway houses without direct governmental licensure or regulation.  (SD1)

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