THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2473

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

H.D. 2

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO HOUSING.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that many grandparents in Hawaii raise their grandchildren when the parents of the child are not able to provide for the child due to a family crisis beyond the control of the grandparent.  The legislature further finds that elderly housing projects do not allow grandchildren to reside with their grandparents, even during periods of family crisis, and this situation has sometimes forced grandparents to move out of their housing project units, resulting in homelessness for both the grandparent and the grandchild.

     The purpose of this Act is to:

     (1)  Allow grandparents residing in elderly housing projects to temporarily raise their minor grandchildren in their housing project units in certain family crisis situations; and

     (2)  Afford elderly housing project residents who have been evicted for raising minor grandchildren in their units priority status for acceptance back into elderly public housing projects after the family crisis has abated.

     SECTION 2.  Section 356D-71, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "[[]§356D-71[]]  Resident selection; dwelling units; rentals.  In the administration of elder or elderly housing, the authority shall observe the following with regard to resident selection, dwelling units, and rentals:

     (1)  Except as provided in this section, the authority shall accept elder or elderly households as residents in the housing projects;

     (2)  It may accept as residents in any dwelling unit one or more persons, related or unrelated by blood or marriage.  It may also accept as a resident in any dwelling unit or in any housing project, in the case of illness or other disability of an elder who is a resident in the dwelling unit or in the project, a person designated by the elder as the elder's live-in aide whose qualifications as a live-in aide are verified by the authority, although the person is not an elder; provided that the person shall cease to be a resident therein upon the recovery of, or removal from the project of, the elder;

     (3)  The authority shall, upon verification of a family crisis, allow any minor who is the grandchild of a tenant of an elderly housing project to temporarily live with the tenant for no longer than three months if, due to the family crisis, the minor would otherwise be without appropriate care; provided that the minor is younger than eighteen years of age while residing with the tenant, the tenant is competent, the tenant reports the presence of each minor in the dwelling to the authority within seven days of arrival, and the minor leaves the dwelling as soon as the family crisis has abated.

              A family crisis includes the following situations:

          (A)  Imprisonment or arrest of the parent of the minor;

          (B)  Criminal forfeiture of the dwelling of the parent of the minor pursuant to chapter 712A that results in the homelessness of the minor;

          (C)  Admission under chapter 334 to a psychiatric facility or civil commitment of the parent of the minor for mental health, mental illness, drug addiction, or alcoholism;

          (D)  The minor is abused or neglected, as defined in section 346-1, and the minor has been removed under authority of law from the care of the parent; or

          (E)  Abandonment of the minor by the parent for any length of time and the absence of other relatives able or willing to care for the minor;

          The authority may use its discretion to determine if other situations constitute a family crisis for the purposes of this paragraph.

    [(3)] (4)  It may rent or lease to an elder a dwelling unit consisting of any number of rooms as the authority deems necessary or advisable to provide safe and sanitary accommodations to the proposed resident or residents without overcrowding;

    [(4)] (5)  Notwithstanding that the elder has no written rental agreement or that the agreement has expired, during hospitalization of the elder due to illness or other disability so long as the elder continues to tender the usual rent to the authority or proceeds to tender receipts for rent lawfully withheld, no action or proceeding to recover possession of the dwelling unit may be maintained against the elder, nor shall the authority otherwise cause the elder to quit the dwelling unit involuntarily, demand an increase in rent from the elder, or decrease the services to which the elder has been entitled; and

    [(5)] (6)  Elder or elderly housing shall be subject to chapter 521."

     SECTION 3.  The Hawaii public housing authority shall give an elderly tenant who has been evicted solely because the tenant allowed a minor grandchild or grandchildren to reside in the tenant's unit due to a verified family crisis, first priority for housing in elderly housing projects on the same island.

     SECTION 4.  If any part of this Act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition for the allocation of federal funds to the State, the conflicting part of this Act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not affect the operation of the remainder of this Act in its application to the agencies concerned.  Any rules adopted by the Hawaii public housing authority to implement this Act shall meet the federal requirements that are a necessary condition of the receipt of federal funds by the State.

     SECTION 5.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2020.



 

Report Title:

Elderly Housing; Kupuna; Grandchildren

 

Description:

Allows grandchildren of elderly housing project residents to temporarily reside with the residents in certain family crisis situations.  Affords residents evicted for raising grandchildren-in-crisis in their housing project units priority status to return to project housing.  Effective July 1, 2020.  (SB2473 HD2)

 

 

 

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