HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

16

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

Requesting the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the governor to create a home for life task force to reduce barriers TO AGING IN PLACE and to facilitate multigenerational living.

 

 


     WHEREAS, by the year 2010, the population of older adults, defined as individuals sixty years of age and older, will increase by twenty per cent, and according to the Executive Office on Aging's Hawaii State Plan on Aging, 2008-2011, by the year 2030 more than one in four individuals is expected to be an older adult; and

 

     WHEREAS, the growing proportion of older adults will pose significant challenges to the State's economic, physical, and social infrastructure; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Executive Office on Aging expects a significant increase in demand for services and housing for older adults, and has identified the need to establish more housing options and formulate flexible and creative service models to accommodate older adults and individuals with disabilities and their wide range of needs; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States Administration on Aging's blueprint for long-term care systems, Choices for Independence, promotes the goal of enabling older adults to remain in their own homes with a high quality of life for as long as possible; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to United States Census Bureau, Census 2000 data, over seventy-four per cent of older adults in Hawaii own their own homes; and

 

     WHEREAS, multigenerational housing serves the dual purpose of facilitating the provision of support services to older adults and persons with disabilities by family caregivers while additionally providing shelter for families struggling with the scarcity of affordable housing; and

 

     WHEREAS, various building code provisions prevent families from converting existing homes into multigenerational homes; and

 

     WHEREAS, given the high percentage of older adults who own their own homes and the expected surge of demand for housing for older adults as that population grows, it is important to identify structural modifications that will accommodate the physical limitations and needs of older adults and persons with disabilities; and

 

     WHEREAS, modifications to preexisting structures will require individualized assessments by architectural, medical, and construction professionals properly trained to identify limitations and medical conditions of older adults and persons with disabilities and suggest viable modifications to accommodate these limitations and medical conditions; and

 

     WHEREAS, if new construction projects and renovations to preexisting structures incorporate principles of universal design, which foster environments that are usable by all people without the need for adaptation or specialized design, the projects and renovations will facilitate future multigenerational living and improve the likelihood that older adults and persons with disabilities can "age in place" or remain in their own homes with a high quality of life; and

 

     WHEREAS, the public should be educated about the benefits of universal design and the use of universal design principles to facilitate multigenerational living and allow older adults and persons with disabilities to age in place or remain in their own homes; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, that the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging in Place requests the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Governor to form the Home for Life Task Force to coordinate research and action to reduce barriers to aging in place and to facilitate multigenerational living; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Governor shall each appoint six individuals from the following categories to serve on the task force: master-planned community developers; architects or planners who have a background in universal design or are designated as certified aging-in-place specialists; contractors with experience developing multigenerational homes; contractors with experience renovating existing homes to facilitate aging in place; trade or professional organizations involved in developing housing; the Hawaii chapters of the American Institute of Architects, American Society of Interior Design, and American Physical Therapy Association; the Building Industry Association; AARP Hawaii; the state Disability and Communications Access Board; county building officials; the state Building Code Council, created by Act 82, Session Laws of Hawaii 2007; educational institution administrators; the Hawaii Association of Realtors; the Healthcare Association of Hawaii; private agencies that assist older adults and individuals with disabilities with housing issues; and members of the community who have first-hand experience with aging in place and multigenerational living; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging in Place may assist the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Governor, in coordinating appointments to the task force; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force may add additional members which the task force believes may contribute to the work of the task force, and shall at its first meeting select a Home for Life Task Force chairperson who shall be responsible for convening future meetings; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is directed to examine the following issues:

 

     (1)  Building and zoning codes that present barriers to converting an existing single-family dwelling into a multigenerational home, and to:

 

     (A)  Identify any previous legislative attempts to facilitate the creation of multigenerational homes;

 

     (B)  Recommend legislation for reasonable and appropriate changes to building and zoning codes that will facilitate the creation of or conversion to multigenerational homes;

 

     (C)  Draft recommendations to submit to the state Building Code Council that will facilitate the creation of multigenerational housing; and

 

     (D)  Identify public and private entities that resist changes to the building and zoning codes that would allow multigenerational housing, and the reasons behind the resistance; and

 

     (2)  Modifications that can be made to existing homes that would allow older adults and persons with disabilities to age in place or remain in their own homes for a longer period of time, and to further identify:

 

     (A)  The most common impairments faced by older adults and persons with disabilities that limit their ability to remain at home;

 

     (B)  Structural modifications that can be made to dwelling structures to accommodate the most common impairments;

 

     (C)  The costs associated with the foregoing structural modifications; and

 

     (D)  Sources of funding, supplies, and voluntary labor to complete the structural modifications, including: suppliers willing to donate or provide at a reduced cost tools, equipment, and supplies; available public or private loan or grant programs that would finance the modifications; and the potential use of building industry apprentices or volunteers to provide labor for the modifications (and to further identify amendments to licensing requirements under title 25, Hawaii Revised Statutes, that may be necessitated by the use of apprentices or volunteers); and

 

     (3)  Mechanisms by which personnel may be trained to analyze and make recommendations for structural modifications to existing structures, and, in particular, to pinpoint:

 

     (A)  Agencies or individuals who currently engage in assessing homes for structural modification, and evaluating practices for assessments currently in place;

 

     (B)  Skills necessary to conduct structural modification assessments and the feasibility of introducing training programs relating to these skills in local educational institutions; and

 

     (C)  The viability of including in the training and assessment process an evaluation team comprising medical, architectural, and construction professionals; and

 

     (4)  The use of universal design principles in new construction projects and renovations of existing structures, prioritizing the investigation of:

 

     (A)  Incentives that would motivate builders and developers to incorporate universal design principles;

 

     (B)  Programs used in other states to support universal designs;

 

     (C)  The existence of industry support for creating a certification program for universal design structures, and the subsequent creation of a symbol signifying universal design certification to be used by real estate professionals and development marketers in their advertising campaigns; and

 

     (D)  Proposed amendments to existing building and zoning codes to facilitate the incorporation of universal design principles; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Home for Life Task Force is directed to:

 

     (1)  Create a comprehensive guide for older adults and persons with disabilities that lists resources available for structural modification of their homes, including sources of low-cost or free supplies, voluntary labor, and available grants or loan programs;

 

     (2)  Prepare a guide to incorporating universal design principles into construction design and renovation, to be made available to architectural and building professionals and the public;

 

     (3)  Collect examples of best practices in retrofitting existing homes, designing and building multigenerational housing, and using universal design principles in both retrofitted and new construction, and solicit ideas and suggestions from professionals and students of architecture, interior design, gerontology, and construction;

 

(4)  Encourage the Building Industry Association of Hawaii to include in its annual "Parade of Homes" one new universal design home, one home that was renovated using universal design principles, and one home adapted for multigenerational living;

 

(5)  Organize an exhibit of best practices to be made available for viewing across the State;

 

(6)  Solicit ideas from older adults and persons with disabilities relating to the designs they believe would facilitate comfortable continued living in their own homes; and

 

     (7)  Submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature and to the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging in Place no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2010 Regular Session; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that state and county building and zoning councils, including the State Building Code Council, select representatives from their respective departments to assist the Home for Life Task Force in its work; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Co-Chairs of the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging in Place may provide administrative assistance to the task force; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii Center on Aging shall convene the first meeting of the Home for Life Task Force and may provide any possible assistance to the work of the Home for Life Task Force; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Director of the Executive Office on Aging, the Executive Director of the Building Code Council, the Comptroller, the Director of Health, the Director of Human Services, the Executive Director of the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, the Licensing Administrator for the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Professional Licensing Division, the President of the University of Hawaii System, the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, and the President of the Building Industry Association of Hawaii.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Task Force; Aging in Place; Multigenerational Housing