STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2037

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2481

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2481 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO YOUTH CRISIS CENTERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish within the Department of Human Services Office of Youth Services, a Youth Crisis Center Branch that will implement and oversee the operation of regional Youth Crisis Centers with the primary objective of addressing the immediate safety and service needs of at-risk youth.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness, Department of Human Services, Department of Human Services Social Services Division Child Welfare Services Branch, Department of Human Services Office of Youth Services, Office of the Public Defender, Hawaii Youth Services Network, Opportunity Youth Action Hui, and two individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that instances of crisis occurring among the State's most vulnerable youth are increasing, especially in communities that have a high incidence of poverty, homelessness, crime, school truancy, school suspensions, runaways, physical and mental abuse, illegal drug use, juvenile crime, and crimes against youth including sex trafficking. These communities lack sufficient resources and services to respond to the immediate needs of these at-risk youth, yet there is no collaboration among various state agencies to provide comprehensive, data-based services to adequately identify the needs and conditions of crises experienced by the State's youth. Your Committee also finds that there are a limited number of emergency shelter beds dedicated for youth who are not actively engaged with child welfare or criminal justice systems. Your Committee believes that this measure is essential in creating a framework of institutionalized Youth Crisis Centers that continue to operate even in the absence of grant funding to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, encourage the continuation of education, provide safer environments, and ensure continued services towards individual achievement of the State's at-risk youth.

Your Committee has amended this measure by 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. 2481, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2481, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair