Report Title:

Community Service

 

Description:

Requires the DLIR's office of community services to establish a mandatory community service program for all residents between the ages of 16 to 20.  Requires report to legislature by DLIR.  (SD1)

 


THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

1203

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO COMMUNITY SERVICE.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The department of labor and industrial relations' office of community services shall establish a program no later than January 1, 2012, to require all state residents between the ages of sixteen and twenty to serve a minimum of five-hundred hours of community service.  In exchange for this service, the participants shall earn $3 per hour in scholarship funds that shall be used to finance any educational program chosen by participants until the age of thirty.  All funds earned by participants shall be placed in a trust fund established by the office of community services for the residents' use for educational purposes.

     SECTION 2.  The department of labor and industrial relations, with the assistance of all state executive agencies shall prepare a plan for the implementation of the mandatory community service plan established by this Act and to be implemented by the office of community services, including determinations of:

     (1)  The federal, state, and county government, and private organizations at which community service participants may be placed;

     (2)  An inventory of the functions, duties, and occupational opportunities available at each agency or organization;

     (3)  The education, training, and skill levels required for the functions, duties, and occupational opportunities in the inventory;

     (4)  The system to be used in matching the community service participants with the volunteer functions, duties, and occupational opportunities available with the participating agencies and organizations;

     (5)  Concerns, if any, of private and public sector employee organizations and modifications to the program, if needed, to alleviate those concerns;

     (6)  A schedule for phasing in participation by all persons in the relevant age group into the program;

     (7)  A system for accounting for the compensation or credits earned by participation in the program, and the means by which those funds or credits may be drawn; and

     (8)  Estimates of the staff, funding, equipment, and facilities required by the office of community services necessary to implement the program during each of the first five years of its existence.

     The department of labor and industrial relations shall report findings, recommendations, and any needed proposed legislation to the legislature.  A preliminary report shall be submitted not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular sessions of 2010 and 2011, and a final report shall be submitted not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2012.

     SECTION 3.  The attorney general shall advise the office of community services on legal issues involved in the operation and administration of the program, such as:

     (1)  Appropriate methods of identifying all individuals who would incur a service obligation in the program;

     (2)  Appropriate bases upon which persons may need to be exempted from participation in the program or allowed to participate in a modified form;

     (3)  Appropriate methods for enforcing compliance by persons who refuse to participate or who engage in unsatisfactory conduct while on duty; and

     (4)  Determination of potential liability issues that may be faced by government agencies and private organizations that participate in the program, and strategies to ameliorate those potential issues.

     SECTION 4.  The governor, the board of education, and the board of regents of the University of Hawaii shall direct all state agencies under their authority to cooperate with and assist the department of labor and industrial relations.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.