STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 1578
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2023
RE: S.B. No. 1492
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 Committee on Health & Homelessness, to which was referred S.B. No. 1492, S.D. 2, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The
purpose of this measure is to:
(1) Require and
appropriate funds for the Department
of Health to track and publicly report data relating to crisis reports,
emergency mental health transports, and court-ordered treatments;
(2) Require the Department of Health to respond to
reports about persons having severe mental illnesses who need assistance;
assess whether the person may fulfill the criteria for assisted community
treatment; and, if so, initiate the process for an assisted community treatment
order;
(3) Establish that a court's denial of a petition
for involuntary commitment shall serve as notification to the Department of
Health that the person should be evaluated for assisted community treatment;
and
(4) Require the Department of the Attorney General to assist with the preparation and filing of assisted community treatment petitions and related court proceedings for private petitioners, unless the petitioner declines the assistance.
Your Committee finds
that assisted community treatment is a valuable tool for providing timely and
necessary treatment for some individuals experiencing a mental health
crisis. Your Committee further finds
that improvements are needed to the State's assisted community treatment
program and other methods used by the State to treat individuals suffering from
untreated mental illness. This measure
is intended to complement existing programs by granting the Department of
Health and the judicial system additional tools to ensure that individuals
struggling with mental health issues receive appropriate treatment.
Your
Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Clarifying who must provide reports to the Department
of Health on persons experiencing a mental health crisis;
(2) Requiring the Department of Health to
coordinate the process for an assisted community treatment petition with other
departments or private providers as necessary, rather than requiring the
Department to file the petition for assisted community treatment and specifying
the requirements for coordinating this process;
(3) Authorizing the Department of Health to
contract with a service provider to coordinate the completion of an assisted
community treatment petition;
(4) Requiring the court to notify the Department
of Health within twenty-four hours of a denial of a petition for involuntary
commitment;
(5) Changing the appropriation for the procurement
of software and preparation of the Department of Health's website to be for
Fiscal Biennium 2023-2025, rather than Fiscal Year 2023-2024 only, and amending
its purpose to include the establishment of three full-time equivalent (3.0
FTE) positions;
(6) Appropriating an unspecified sum to the
Department of Health for the development and implementation of statewide media,
education, and training activities for policies related to emergency
examination and hospitalization and assisted community treatment for those in
need of mental health intervention;
(7) Changing the effective date to June 30, 3000,
to encourage further discussion; and
(8) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Finance, should it deliberate on this measure, to consider an appropriation amount of $4,000,000 for the procurement of software and preparation of the Department of Health's website for data collection and publication and the establishment of three full-time equivalent positions and $200,000 for the development and implementation of statewide media, education, and training activities for policies related to emergency examination and hospitalization and assisted community treatment for those in need of mental health intervention.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health & Homelessness that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1492, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1492, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health & Homelessness,
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____________________________ DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair |
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