Report Title:

Weed and Seed; Expansion

Description:

Expands the current weed and seed program with the Department of Public Safety and nonprofit corporations. (HB176 HD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

176

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO THE WEED AND SEED PROGRAM.

 

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

SECTION 1. The Weed and Seed program is a United States Department of Justice initiative that is administered locally by the United States Attorney’s Office. Initiated in 1992, the strategy currently includes more than 249 sites in 226 cities across the country.

Weed and Seed is a collaborative strategy among law enforcement (federal, state and city) agencies, social service agencies, private businesses, nonprofit organizations and residents to reclaim, restore, and rebuild communities. The four key elements to the Weed and Seed program are (1) law enforcement; (2) community policing; (3) prevention, intervention and treatment programs; and (4) neighborhood restoration.

Weed and Seed works with local law enforcement to prevent, control, and reduce violent crime, drug abuse, and gang activity in targeted neighborhoods by "weeding" out the criminal element in the community. Community policing involves having police officers work closely with community residents to develop solutions to violent and drug related crimes. The next step is to "seed" the community with human services that include prevention, intervention treatment, and neighborhood revitalization.

The legislature finds that the Weed and Seed program has been successful since its inception in the Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown area of downtown Honolulu as a Weed and Seed site. Since the beginning of the program, the legislature finds that crime in that area has been significantly reduced. The legislature finds that the program’s success warrants its expansion into other high crime areas such as but not limited to east Honolulu, west Honolulu, Waianae, Palolo, and Ewa Beach.

SECTION 2. (a) The department of public safety may contract with a private nonprofit corporation eligible for tax exempt status in accordance with section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, for the purposes of coordinating policy, disbursing public funds, and implementing community plans related to the provision of the Hawaii weed and seed program. The private nonprofit corporation, as a condition for receiving public funds, shall be subject to chapter 42F and chapter 103F, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and be organized to:

(1) Develop policy recommendations concerning all aspects of a coordinated weed and seed program, including coordinating strategies, resource development, and advocacy;

(2) Provide the recommendations developed in accordance with paragraph (1) to the department of public safety;

(3) Disburse public funds in the manner authorized by law; and

(4) Perform other duties as delineated in this Act.

(b) No powers or duties as assigned to the private nonprofit corporation within this Act shall be construed to designate the private nonprofit corporation as a state agency or public entity.

SECTION 3. (a) Subject to the availability of funds, the private nonprofit corporation and the department of public safety, in the spirit of a public and private partnership, shall jointly review and approve the community plan presented by a community council and determine funding levels for each community council. The department of public safety shall suggest the disbursement of public funds.

(b) The private nonprofit corporation and the department of public safety shall jointly submit an annual report to the governor and the legislature twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session. The report shall describe the activities and accomplishments of the corporation and the department of public safety, fund balances and expenditures, and the purpose of the expenditures.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.