STAND. COM. REP. NO. 296

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1128

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 1128 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO OFFICE OF YOUTH SERVICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a:

(1) Self-funded commercial enterprise vocational programs within the Office of Youth Services for young adults at risk; and

(2) Revolving fund within the Office of Youth Services, for the receipt of income and payment of expenses generated from the commercial enterprise vocational programs.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Office of Youth Services, Department of Human Services, Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center, Community Alliance on Prisons, Kūpuna for the Mo‘opuna, and thirty-eight individuals.

Your Committee finds that it is critical for the State to develop early intervention strategies that are focused on diverting youth, especially native Hawaiian youth, away from the criminal justice system and toward pathways for success. Your Committee further finds that the over-representation and disparate treatment of native Hawaiians in the criminal justice system is a longstanding problem in Hawaii. Native Hawaiian youth are disproportionately represented in the juvenile justice system, and are also most frequently arrested in all offense categories. Accordingly, your Committee finds that establishing a commercial enterprise vocational program for at-risk young adults will help address this continuing problem, and that establishing a revolving fund to collect the proceeds from enterprise activities will help to self-sustain the program and provide participating opio (youths) a stable income.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of May 1, 2029, to encourage further discussion; 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 Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1128, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1128, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,

________________________________

JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair