STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1485

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: S.B. No. 1351

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Health & Homelessness, to which was referred S.B. No. 1351, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INFANT AND EARLY CHILDHOOD MENTAL HEALTH,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to create and appropriate funds for an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Program to provide support and mental health services for children from birth to age five.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Governor, Department of Human Services, Department of Health, Executive Office on Early Learning, Disability and Communication Access Board, Office of Wellness and Resilience, ‘Epic Ohana, Parents and Children Together, Early Childhood Action Strategy, Family Hui Hawaii, Hawaii Association for Infant Mental Health, Hawai‘i Children's Action Network Speaks!, Commit to Keiki, Hawai‘i Community Foundation, Family Support Hawaii, and eleven individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Judiciary.

Your Committees find that approximately twenty-nine thousand children in Hawaii have mental health needs due to biological or developmental special needs at birth, exposure to intimate partner violence, parental substance abuse, housing insecurity, and poverty. These unmet childhood mental health needs were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with babies born in the first year of the pandemic scoring lower on developmental screening tests at the age of six months than babies born just before the pandemic. Your Committees further find that interventions at an early stage in life can reduce future needs for special education and mental health treatment, and reduce the risk of the child becoming involved with the juvenile and adult justice systems. This measure is intended to improve accessibility, capacity, and quality of services by establishing an overall coordinator to work across the various agencies and with relevant nonprofit organizations to address the unmet mental health needs of the State's children.

Your Committees note the comments raised by the Judiciary in testimony that, through child abuse and neglect cases and the Zero to Three specialty court, the Judiciary has seen that the actions of adults toward children can have a lasting impact on their mental health. Your Committees additionally note that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adverse childhood experiences can have lasting and lifelong effects on the health and wellbeing of children.

Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Health & Homelessness that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1351, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1351, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________ DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair

____________________________ JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair