STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2085

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2771

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2771 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RISK AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT FOR FEMALE OFFENDERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Department of Public Safety to develop and conduct a pretrial female risk and needs assessment tool that considers factors important to women when considering their risk to reoffend and treatment needs.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawai‘i Correctional System Oversight Commission, Women's Prison Project, Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition, and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Public Safety.

Your Committee finds that women's pathways to incarcerations, their risk factors for recidivism, and their rehabilitation needs differ from those of men and are not adequately identified or addressed by assessment tools that were originally developed for males in the justice system. For example, factors that may predict stability for men, such as family relationships, are more complex for women dealing with domestic abuse or caregiving or parenting stress. Furthermore, women's pathways to incarceration overwhelmingly relate to social and economic marginalization. Parenting stress, lack of childcare, and the need as single mothers to support their family are among risk factors and needs not identified in non-gender responsive assessments. This measure will lead to more accurate identification of women's risk factors and needs which will result in more effective interventions and services for women in the state justice system by requiring the Department of Public Safety to develop and conduct a pretrial female risk and needs assessment tool that considers factors important to women when considering their risk to reoffend and treatment needs.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2771 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs,

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CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair