STAND. COM. REP. NO. 582

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1445

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 1445 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a two-year Digital Youth Mental Health Platform Pilot Project under which the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division of the Department of Health shall develop and make publicly available a digital platform providing tools and resources designed to help young people address and manage mental health challenges.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division of the Department of Health, Opportunity for Youth Action Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Youth Services Network, Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi State LGBTQ+ Commission, Pride at Work-Hawaiʻi, and Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute.

Your Committee finds that prevention activities related to the promotion of mental health, such as early intervention, mental health education, and coping strategies, are critical to preventing the escalation of mental health disorders in the State's communities, potentially reducing the need for more intensive services in the future. Your Committee further finds that digital platforms that can be accessed with mobile devices can provide a powerful public health service, such as expanding the reach of mental health education and prevention services by making it more convenient and inclusive, especially for children and adolescents in remote or underserved areas where in-person programs may be limited. This measure provides easier access to mental health resources through the establishment of a digital platform that educates youth, enhances engagement, and may prevent mental health challenges from worsening in the future.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the appropriation to an unspecified amount; and

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

Your Committee notes that this measure, as amended, contains an unspecified appropriation amount. Should your Committee on Ways and Means choose to deliberate on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that it consider inserting an appropriation amount of $500,000 for fiscal year 2025-2026 and $250,000 for fiscal year 2026-2027 for the implementation and administration of the Digital Youth Mental Health Platform Pilot Project.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1445, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1445, 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 and Human Services,

________________________________

JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair