STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1771
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: H.C.R. No. 162
H.D. 1
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2021
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Health, Human Services, and Education, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 162, H.D. 1, entitled:
"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES; DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, VIA THE BEHAVIORAL RISK FACTOR SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM; AND DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, VIA THE YOUTH RISK BEHAVIOR SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM, TO COLLECT INFORMATION ON THE SEX, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, AND GENDER IDENTITY AND GENDER EXPRESSION OF RESPONDENTS, INCLUDING RESPONDENTS WHO ARE UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE COURTS AND THE HAWAII YOUTH CORRECTIONAL FACILITY,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to request that the Department of Human Services; Department of Health, via the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; and Department of Education, via the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, collect information on the sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression of respondents, including respondents who are under the supervision of the courts and the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Hawaii Youth Services Network, LGBTQ+ Rainbow Alliance, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, Pride at Work - Hawai‘i, Rainbow Family 808, The Trevor Project, and seven individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services and Department of Health.
Your Committees
find that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning and
intersex (LGBTQI)
youth, particularly LGBTQI youth of color, face discrimination and stigma that
leads to criminalization and increased interactions with law enforcement and
the criminal justice system. Your
Committees further find that LGBTQI youth of color and transgender and non-conforming
youth are particularly overrepresented in the juvenile and criminal justice
systems. Data collected on sexual
orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and intersex variation intersects
with statewide anti-discrimination work and could inform decision-making
processes, such as identifying the possible disproportionate impact of the
criminal justice system and evaluating the efficacy of work done to alleviate
obstacles unique to LGBTQI youth populations.
This measure requests the Departments of Human Services, Health, and
Education to collect
information on the sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender
expression of respondents, including respondents who are under the supervision
of the courts and the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility.
Your Committees recognize the testimony of the Department of Health, which explained that the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey do not collect data on people under the supervision of the courts and the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility. Therefore, this measure as written would not effectively obtain the requested information. Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Removing
the references to the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System and Youth Risk
Behavior Surveillance System;
(2) Requesting
the Departments of Public Safety and Human Services to work with the
Departments of Health and
Education and the Judiciary to submit a plan to account for gender identity
with respect to incarcerated and court-involved youth;
(3) Requesting
the departments to work with the Sexual and Gender Minority Workgroup to
address the incidence of LGBTQI youth in the juvenile and criminal justice
systems;
(4) Amending
the measure's title to reflect its amended purpose; and
(5) 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 Health, Human Services, and Education that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 162, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 162, H.D. 1, S.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health, Human Services, and Education,
________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair |
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________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair |
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________________________________ MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair |