HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

150

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

requesting the department of human services TO CONVENe A TASK FORCE TO DEVELOP A DRUG ENDANGERED CHILD PROTECTION PROGRAM.

 

WHEREAS, the effects of the ice epidemic have been far reaching and have had a negative effect on children and families; and

WHEREAS, a study conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University analyzed the effect of substance abuse on the nation's child welfare system and found that substance abusing parents affected three million children in 1997 and annually cost taxpayers over $10 billion; and

WHEREAS, the study also found that children of parents who are substance abusers were three times more likely to be abused and four times more likely to be neglected than children of sober parents; and

WHEREAS, in Hawaii, the Child Welfare Services Branch of the Department of Human Services (DHS) estimates that drug use is an issue in 85 to 90 percent of its caseload; this means that drug use was present in approximately 6,000-6,300 of the 7,000 cases handled by DHS in fiscal year 2002; and

WHEREAS, despite the dangers that substance abusing parents create for their children, no apparent coordinated plan exists in Hawaii between various governmental departments and community agencies to respond to the impact that ice usage in the home has on the child; neither has data been collected locally to document the severity of this problem; and

WHEREAS, California, Idaho, and Washington have established multi-agency coordinated plans to respond to this problem

("Children at Clandestine Methamphetamine Labs: Helping Meth's Youngest Victims," U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime, June 2003), which can be used as models for the development of Hawaii's own drug endangered child protection program; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, that DHS is requested to convene a task force to develop a drug endangered child protection program; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DHS include representatives from the following agencies and organizations to participate on the task force:

(1) The Department of Health;

(2) The Department of Education;

(3) Federal, state, and county law enforcement agencies;

(4) The four county prosecuting attorney's offices; and

(5) Blueprint for Change and four other community organizations that focus on children or domestic violence issues;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force submit a comprehensive report on the development of this program to the Legislature no later than 20 days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2005; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Human

Services, the Director of Health, the Superintendent of Education, the four county Prosecuting Attorneys, and Blueprint for Change.

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Drug Endangered Child Task Force