STAND. COM. REP. NO 62

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 925

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 925 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish and appropriate funds for one permanent full-time equivalent fetal alcohol spectrum disorder coordinator position in the Family Services Division of the Department of Health.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the State Council on Developmental Disabilities; March of Dimes, Hawaii Chapter; FASD Communities; Hawaii Public Health Association; and twenty-two individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

     Your Committees find that fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is the most underdiagnosed and preventable developmental disability in Hawaii and across the United States.  The effects of prenatal alcohol exposure are lifelong, yet fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is completely preventable.  The effects of fetal alcohol exposure can be ameliorated through early intervention and effective systems of care and service.  The devastating effects of prenatal alcohol exposure are manifested in youth, and without the effective care and services of a qualified practitioner, continue for the duration of the individual's lifetime.

     Your Committees further find that there is an urgent need to establish a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder coordinator position in the interest of serving current and future populations affected by this disorder.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 925 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services and Housing,

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair

____________________________ JOSH GREEN, Chair