STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1403

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.C.R. No. 143

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Human Services and Public Housing, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 143 entitled:

 

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO STUDY RESPITE CARE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to request the Legislative Reference Bureau to study respite care.

 

     AARP Hawaii and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society submitted testimony in support of this measure.  The State Council on Developmental Disabilities and Family Voices submitted testimony in support of the intent of this measure.  The Legislative Reference Bureau submitted comments.

 

     Family caregivers provide an invaluable service and economic benefit to care recipients and State taxpayers.  Sustainable family caregiving depends on meeting a family caregiver's own needs for support and respite care.  The basic objective of respite care is to provide a family caregiver with temporary relief from the responsibilities of caring for a care recipient so that the family caregiver can attend to other personal and professional obligations.  This measure will help further the development of a comprehensive, long-term care delivery system by studying the provision of respite care in other states.

 

     The State Council on Developmental Disabilities requested that the focus of the study be expanded to include additional family caregivers to help the State Council on Developmental Disabilities prepare for other federal grants, such as those pursuant to the Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2006.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Expanding the focus of the study to include family caregivers who provide care to:

 

          (A)  Their children with special health care needs;

 

          (B)  Adult family members, or other individuals, aged sixty years or older with a disability; or

 

          (C)  Chronically ill adults;

 

     (2)  Requesting the Department of Human Services, instead of the Legislative Reference Bureau, to provide an inventory of the respite services provided in Hawaii;

 

     (3)  Providing that the inventory of the respite services should include a description of each program, eligibility criteria, quality and safety monitoring procedures, and evaluation and quality improvement processes;

 

     (4)  Amending the title of the measure to reflect the inclusion of the Department of Human Services' reporting requirement; and

 

     (5)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services and Public Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 143, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 143, S.D. 1.

 


Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services and Public Housing,

 

 

 

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair