STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2785

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 1818

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1818, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to require the Department of Public Safety to:

     (1)  Ensure that reentry/reintegration programs within Hawaii's correctional facilities offer cognitive behavioral therapy with native Hawaiian holistic interventions to address domestic violence, addictions, self-mastery through identity, and community connections to promote the successful transition from incarceration to the community;

     (2)  Implement this measure with all new contracts for reentry/reintegration programs upon approval of this Act; and

     (3)  Submit an annual report to the Legislature on these programs in Hawaii's correctional facilities no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session, beginning with the Regular Session of 2011.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from five private entities and four individuals.  Testimony in opposition was received from two state departments and one individual.  Written testimony presented to the Committees may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

     Your Committees find that a promising approach to reducing recidivism and helping inmates make the successful transition from prison to the community is cognitive restructuring and transition programs provided at correctional facilities.  The programs assist offenders in restructuring their thought processes and teach cognitive skills that help with basic decision-making and problem-solving.  When combined with strategies that help native Hawaiian inmates get back in touch with the values of their culture, cognitive rehabilitation can help break the vicious cycle of crime and punishment, as knowledge of native Hawaiian traditions and cultural values have helped many cope with social challenges.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1)  Allowing the Department of Public Safety to offer cognitive behavioral therapy programs, rather than requiring the Department to do so, on the recommendation of the State Attorney General;

     (2)  Deleting reference to "native Hawaiian holistic" and substituting "cultural and other interventions," on the recommendation of the State Attorney General;

     (3)  Changing the effective date to upon approval; and

     (4)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1818, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1818, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________ CLAYTON HEE, Chair

____________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair