HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

183

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO SUPPORT PROJECT CUDDLE AND ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF ADVERTISING ITS HOTLINE.

 

WHEREAS, Project Cuddle is recognized as a successful, safe, and legal alternative to abandonment of babies; and

WHEREAS, Project Cuddle is the result of one woman's crusade to help prevent infants from being abandoned; and

WHEREAS, Project Cuddle instituted a 24-hour toll-free crisis hotline; and

WHEREAS, when a crisis call is received, Project Cuddle institutes means of helping the baby such as finding an attorney, a family wanting to rescue and adopt the baby, as well as an obstetrician, hospital and social counselor; and

WHEREAS, Project Cuddle was incorporated as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit charity in 1994; and

WHEREAS, a volunteer Board of Directors oversees the organization, which Debbe Magnusen runs on a day-to-day basis with the assistance of volunteers and a minimal paid staff; and

WHEREAS, statistics indicate that fifty-seven children are abandoned everyday, and these are only the ones that are found; and

WHEREAS, since its founding, Project Cuddle has successfully saved hundreds of babies from being abandoned; and

WHEREAS, approximately 60 percent of the girls and women raise their babies with the help of Project Cuddle who works with the parents of the mothers and find them shelter; and

WHEREAS, Project Cuddle is based in Orange County, California and has volunteers all over the United States and Canada that help publicize its toll-free number in that area; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that it is a noble and appropriate alternative to abandonment to support Project Cuddle; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Human Services is urged to support Project Cuddle and to assess the feasibility of advertising its toll-free number so that women and friends and relatives of women who are considering abandoning a baby may have an alternative; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department is requested to report findings and recommendations, including proposed legislation, to the Legislature twenty days before the start of the Regular Session of 2005; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Human Services, the Speaker of the House, and the President of the Senate.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Abandoned babies; Project Cuddle