STAND. COM. REP. NO 407

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 433

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 433 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INCARCERATED PARENTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Department of Public Safety intake service centers to coordinate the collection of data regarding incarcerated parents and children with incarcerated parents.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Public Safety, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Community Alliance on Prisons, Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, Kalihi Palama Hawaiian Civic Club, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, Blueprint for Change, King Kamehameha HCC and nine individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education.

     Your Committee finds that children whose parents are incarcerated may experience symptoms of trauma as a result of their parents' incarceration, such as poor academic performance, aggressive behavior, and developmental challenges.  Moreover, these children may also be much more likely to enter the criminal justice system themselves.

     Your Committee further finds that there is an absence of reliable and comprehensive data on children or incarcerated parents in Hawaii, limiting the state and service providers' ability to support these children and their families.  Appropriate services and resources are essential to breaking the cycle of intergenerational incarceration and to help these children overcome the hardships associated with an incarcerated parent.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 433 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair