STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2418

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2986

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2986 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SUICIDE PREVENTION TRAINING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require all teachers, principals, and school counselors to complete two hours of suicide prevention and education training each year.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, United States Army Hawaii Suicide Prevention Program, Hawai‘i Psychological Association, and O‘ahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i.

Your Committee finds that suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for children between the ages of ten and fourteen, and is the leading cause of death for young people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four. The percentage of teenagers in Hawaii who plan to commit suicide and the percentage of teenagers who attempt suicide are among the highest in the nation. Your Committee therefore finds that there is a need to increase the number of individuals in educational institutions, such as teachers, principals, and school counselors, who are trained to identify youth at risk of suicide and refer those children to appropriate services, counseling, and intervention. The Jason Flatt Act, first passed in Tennessee in 2007, requires all educators to complete youth suicide awareness and prevention training every year as part of their state licensure to teach. Your Committee finds that it is time for Hawaii to enact similar legislation.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting a blank appropriation for the Department of Education to conduct suicide prevention and education training; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2986, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2986, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor,

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair