STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2146

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2441

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committees on Human Services and Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2441 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO YOUTH,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide a standardized framework and funding for after-school programs in public middle and intermediate schools by establishing the resources for enrichment, athletics, culture, and health (or R.E.A.C.H.) program within the Office of Youth Services.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Department of Education, Board of Education, Office of Youth Services, Mililani Middle School, Molokai Middle School, Waiakea Intermediate School, Hana High and Elementary, Reach Out Hawaii, Oceanic Time Warner Cable, Pacific Links Hawaii, Island Insurance Companies, Hawaii Youth Services Network, After-School All-Stars Hawaii, Maui Economic Development Board, Hui for Excellence in Education, Hawaii Council on Physical Activity and Nutrition, Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii, and eleven individuals.

 

     Your Committees find that the creation of a state-subsidized after-school program for middle and intermediate public school students is important to the future of Hawaii's keiki and the welfare of the State as a whole.  More than one-fourth of children are left alone and unsupervised after school, and data indicates that juvenile violence peaks in the after-school hours on school days.  In addition, Hawaii's dropout rate has reached over sixteen percent, and nearly half of high school drop outs report feeling that they started high school ill-prepared.

 

     Your Committees find that middle and intermediate school years are a pivotal time for children, and high-quality after-school programs can lead to improved school attendance, better behavior, and better academic performance.  It is important to keep children engaged in positive after-school activities because disconnected youth are more likely to become part of the juvenile justice system, and research indicates that each disconnected youth costs taxpayers nearly $14,000 per year.  In contrast, after-school programs keep children engaged in positive activities and on a path toward graduation and productive futures.

 

     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 Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2441, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2441, 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 Education,

 

____________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair

 

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair