STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1214

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 137

       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 Tourism and Hawaiian Affairs and Water and Land, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 137 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE COORDINATOR ON HOMELESSNESS TO ASSEMBLE A WORKING GROUP TO IDENTIFY INNOVATIVE HOUSING SOLUTIONS FOR HOMELESS NATIVE HAWAIIAN FAMILIES; INVESTIGATE SUITABLE AND AVAILABLE FEDERAL, STATE, COUNTY, AND PRIVATE LAND FOR INNOVATIVE HOUSING PROJECTS; AND PREPARE A PLAN TO DEVELOP A DEMONSTRATION HOUSING PROJECT FOR HOMELESS NATIVE HAWAIIAN FAMILIES THAT CAN SERVE AS A MODEL STATEWIDE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Coordinator on Homelessness to assemble a working group to:

     (1)  Identify innovative housing solutions for homeless Native Hawaiian families;

     (2)  Investigate suitable and available federal, state, county, and private land for innovative housing projects; and

     (3)  Prepare a plan to develop a demonstration housing project for homeless Native Hawaiian families that can serve as a model statewide.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Hawaii Interagency Council on Homelessness, Blueprint for Change, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, Partners in Development Foundation, and two individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

     Your Committees find that homelessness is a complex and multi-faceted issue that requires planning, coordination, implementation, and funding across federal, state, county, business, local, and community lines.  Native Hawaiians are disproportionately represented among Hawaii's homeless at twenty-eight percent of the homeless served.  Homelessness is often a revolving door for many Native Hawaiian families because of underlying and unresolved socioeconomic problems such as unemployment, poor health, and substance abuse.

     Your Committees further find that to break the cycle of homelessness and end the generational neglect of children within homeless Native Hawaiian families, it is necessary to develop innovative housing solutions that provide the families with stable housing and access to support and to strengthen services to resolve underlying problems.

     Your Committees also note that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is currently addressing homelessness among Native Hawaiians by:

     (1)  Supporting Hawaiian Community Assets' work in creating a financial foundation for homeless families;

     (2)  Creating $900,000 in grant opportunities for housing;

     (3)  Providing long-term stable financial support to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; and

     (4)  Developing leveraged funding opportunities to increase reentry programs for pa‘ahao.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by 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 Tourism and Hawaiian Affairs and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 137, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 137, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Tourism and Hawaiian Affairs and Water and Land,

____________________________ BRICKWOOD GALUTERIA, Chair	____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair
	____________________________ MALAMA SOLOMON, Chair