STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2374

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2767

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Higher Education and the Arts and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2767 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to improve students' mental health treatment and services at the University of Hawaii at Manoa by appropriating funds for the University to hire three psychologists and one case manager.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawaii System, University of Hawaii at Manoa Graduate Student Organization, and twenty-three individuals.

Your Committees find that poor mental health among college students is a growing concern nationwide.  A 2011 report by the American Psychological Association indicates that in addition to college counseling centers becoming increasingly understaffed, there is a rise in the number of students struggling with eating disorders, substance abuse, and self-inflicted injury, as well as an increase in the number of students seeking help for serious mental health problems.  A 2010 survey by the American College Health Association found that over forty-five percent of students reported feeling hopeless and over thirty percent reported feeling so depressed that it was difficult to function.

Your Committees also find that the University of Hawaii at Manoa has a need for more staff to adequately address students' mental health needs.  While national guidelines call for one licensed psychologist for every one thousand to one thousand five hundred students, the University of Hawaii at Manoa has an average enrollment of twenty thousand students and only seven and one-half tenured track psychologist positions.  During the 2014-2015 academic year, the University serviced approximately 1,300 students and provided almost 8,000 hours of therapy.  As of February 2016, the wait time for mental health services at the University for non-urgent clients was sixteen days.  Your Committees recognize a need to improve mental health services at the University by reducing the amount of time students are on the waitlist for individual psychotherapy services, providing consistent follow-up for student mental health clients, and retaining staff at the counseling and student development center that are currently leaving to work in private practice as the result of uncompetitive pay.

     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 Higher Education and the Arts and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2767, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2767, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Higher Education and the Arts and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

________________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

________________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair