STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1283-22

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2022

 

RE:   S.B. No. 3235

      S.D. 1

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Health, Human Services, & Homelessness, to which was referred S.B. No. 3235, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SAFE SPACES FOR YOUTH PILOT PROGRAM,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to establish an inter-agency Safe Spaces for Youth Pilot Program to provide safe spaces in each county for youth experiencing homelessness.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Office of the Public Defender, Hawaii Youth Services Network, Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Rainbow Family 808, Opportunity Youth Action Hui, and one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness, Department of Human Services, and Department of Budget and Finance.

 

     Your Committee finds that over the course of a year, one in ten young adults in the State between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five and one in thirty adolescents in the State between the ages of thirteen and seventeen experience some form of homelessness in which the young adult or adolescent is unaccompanied by a parent or guardian.  Your Committee further finds that homeless and runaway youth are vulnerable to multiple threats, including having unmet basic food and shelter needs, untreated mental health disorders, substance use, significant disruption to their education, sexual exploitation, physical victimization, and suicide.  This measure ensures the safety and well-being of homeless youth by requiring the establishment of a coordinated, inter-agency initiative to provide safe spaces in each county for youth experiencing homelessness.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2060, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health, Human Services, & Homelessness that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3235, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3235, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

 

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health, Human Services, & Homelessness,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

RYAN I. YAMANE, Chair