STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2253

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3210

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 Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 3210 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FAMILY GUIDANCE CENTERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require the Department of Health's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division to establish a Family Guidance Center office in Ka‘ū in the county of Hawaii, to serve the needs of the children and youth in the southern region of the county, in addition to the offices in Waimea, Kona, and Hilo; and

(2) Appropriate funds.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one member of the Hawai‘i County Council, Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, and three individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health and Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that youth who have serious emotional or behavioral challenges and reside in the southern region of Hawaii island are currently required to travel as far as one hundred miles to visit a family guidance center in Waimea or Hilo. A family guidance center in Ka‘ū in southern Hawaii island will be able to address an array of health outreach and education services in that area. This measure requires the Department of Health to establish a family guidance center in Ka‘ū, and appropriates funds for the same.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting a blank appropriation amount;

(2) Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) 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 Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3210, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3210, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________

JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair