THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

110

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO EVALUATE AND RECOMMEND POSSIBLE STATUTORY AND OTHER CHANGES TO DELIVER PROMPT AND APPROPRIATE MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT TO THOSE COMMITTED TO THE HAWAII STATE HOSPITAL UNDER CHAPTER 704, HAWAII REVISED STATUTES.

 

WHEREAS, chapter 704, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), entitled Penal Responsibility and Fitness to Proceed, permits the commitment of persons to the Hawaii State Hospital for specific reasons; and

WHEREAS, under chapter 704, people can be committed to the Hawaii State Hospital when their physical or mental condition is in question with respect to their fitness to proceed or their responsibility for their conduct, when it has been determined that a defendant is unfit to proceed, or when the court orders a defendant who has not fulfilled the defendant's conditions of release back to the state hospital; and

WHEREAS, defendants committed under chapter 704 arrive at the Hawaii State Hospital without orders to administer medications that would ameliorate their mental illness; and

WHEREAS, these defendants are held in state custody without medication for extended periods of time; and

WHEREAS, obtaining a court order to administer involuntary medication can take several months to obtain; and

WHEREAS, the delay in administering medication often leads to the further deterioration of these patients, and greater risk to other patients and staff because of assaults by these patients; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Health is requested to convene a working group to evaluate alternatives and make recommendations to streamline and expedite the length of time it takes to obtain an order to treat defendants committed under chapter 704; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group consider how the order to treat could accompany patients when they are committed to the Hawaii State Hospital under chapter 704; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group be comprised of, but not be limited to, representatives from the Department of Health, including staff from the Hawaii State Hospital, Department of the Attorney General, the Judiciary, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, National Association of the Mentally Ill, and the Hawaii Government Employees Association; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group, through the Department of Health, is requested to report its findings and recommendations no later than twenty days prior to the Regular Session of 2005; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, the Attorney General, the Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court, President of the Hawaii Disability Rights Center, President of the National Association of the Mentally Ill, Hawaii Chapter, and the Executive Director of the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

DOH; Mental Health Treatment; Working Group