STAND. COM. REP. NO.9

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 883

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 883 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to establish three permanent positions in the adult protective services program under the Department of Human Services to investigate incidents of suspected elder abuse, including financial exploitation.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Adult Community Care Services Branch Advisory Council, Department of Human Services; the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney, City and County of Honolulu; Catholic Charities Elderly Services; the Kokua Council; and two concerned citizens. Testimony in support of the intent of the measure was received from the Department of Human Services.

With the increase in the elder population in Hawaii, there is a growing number of abuse cases involving financial exploitation of older adults, particularly those who are dependent on others for care and assistance with daily living activities. Many of these cases are difficult to investigate and are complicated by the psychological and emotional ties between the victims and the perpetrators, who are often family members or close relatives. Unraveling the complex web of activities and relationships inherent to financial exploitation cases requires skilled and experienced investigators with a combination of expert social work and financial skills. The Financial Exploitation Project, funded through May 31, 2003, under a one-year grant from the federal Byrne Memorial Grant Program, provides the Department of Human Services with the critical expertise that is needed to investigate cases of suspected financial exploitation. The project team of (1) social worker, (1) auditor, and (1) social services assistant, has only been on the job for about three months; therefore, no statistical analysis is yet available as to the potential extent of the problem of financial exploitation in the State.

Your Committee finds that continued funding for these positions is necessary to allow the Department of Human Services to fully explore and determine the potential extent of the financial exploitation problem among Hawaii's elders, that would serve as a basis for the Legislature to determine whether the Financial Exploitation Program should be continued on a permanent basis.

At the hearing, the Department of Human Services indicated that it was seeking alternative sources of funding that may be available to continue the Financial Exploitation Project. Your Committee encourages the Department to continue to explore alternative sources of funding. Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting the word "permanent" before the word "positions" in Section 2, to indicate that the positions will be funded, but not on a permanent basis; and

(2) Adding language to Section 2, stating that, if funding from alternative sources is obtained by the Department of Human Services for the Financial Exploitation Project, that the State appropriation shall be reduced correspondingly.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 883, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second

Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 883, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair