STAND. COM. REP. NO. 48
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 515
S.D. 1
Honorable Donna Mercado Kim
President of the Senate
Twenty-Seventh State Legislature
Regular Session of 2013
State of Hawaii
Madam:
Your Committees on Human Services and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 515 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to:
(1) Appropriate funds to the Homeless Programs Office of the Department of Human Services and the rental housing trust fund;
(2) Appropriate funds to the Department of Health for substance abuse treatment, mental health support services, and clean and sober housing services, and to the Department of Human Services for matching funds for shelter plus care grants;
(3) Appropriate funds for a rental assistance program;
(4) Appropriate funds to the Hawaii Public Housing Authority to continue to administer housing first programs for chronically homeless individuals and to reestablish the homeless prevention and rapid re-housing program;
(5) Appropriate funds out of the rental housing trust fund for loans or grants for rental housing projects; and
(6) Appropriate matching funds for the federal shelter plus care program to provide rental assistance in connection with supportive services.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Hawaii Public Housing Authority, Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition, Helping Hands Hawaii, Community Alliance for Mental Health, and Catholic Charities Hawaii. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services.
Your Committees find that homelessness continues to be one of the State's most significant and challenging social problems. According to a recent report, 14,200 homeless individuals were served through shelter and outreach programs in fiscal year 2011. Of these individuals, 9,781 resided in the City and County of Honolulu. Homeless service providers estimate that 6,000 homeless people in the State need shelter each night.
Your Committees further find that homelessness is a complex issue that requires continuous resources and coordinated efforts at all levels. Homeless persons face a myriad of issues, including mental illness, substance abuse, loss of employment and income, and lack of affordable housing. Appropriate funding for programs and services tailored to address these issues is essential.
Your Committees also find that housing first programs are a collaborative effort between the Department of Human Services and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development that provides housing and support services for chronically homeless individuals, including those who have an addiction or mental illness, or both.
Your Committees further find that the housing first programs in the State closely resemble the requirements of the United States Housing and Urban Development shelter plus care program and the Veterans Administration veteran's assisted supportive housing voucher program for homeless veterans. In its December 2011 report to the Legislature pursuant to section 346-378, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the Department of Human Services reported that the State has 650 permanent housing placements plus support services through the shelter plus care and veteran's assisted supportive housing voucher programs.
Your Committees also find that the purpose of the United States Housing and Urban Development's homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing program was to provide economically distressed households and individuals with financial and other assistance to prevent them from becoming homeless and help those who are experiencing homelessness to be quickly re-housed and stabilized. The funds under this program were intended to target individuals and families who would be homeless but for this assistance. The Department of Human Services administered the homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing program to provide homeless prevention and housing assistance to all eligible individuals and households who apply through contracted organizations. The funds from the program provided for a variety of assistance, including short-term or medium-term rental assistance and housing relocation, and stabilization services, such as mediation, security or utility deposits, utility payments, moving cost assistance, and case management.
Your Committees further find that the shelter plus care program of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development provides rental assistance in connection with supportive services. The program provides a variety of permanent housing choices, accompanied by a range of supportive services funded through other sources. The program assists hard-to-serve homeless individuals with disabilities and their families. These individuals primarily include those with serious mental illness, chronic problems with alcohol and drugs, and HIV, AIDS, or related diseases.
Your Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Changing the source of the appropriation for the rental housing trust fund from general revenues to general obligation bonds;
(2) Changing the expending agency for the appropriation for the rental assistance program from the Hawaii Public Housing Authority to the Department of Human Services; and
(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.
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 are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 515, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 515, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Health,
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____________________________ JOSH GREEN, Chair |
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____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair |
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