HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2650

TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO HOMELESS SERVICES PROVIDERS.

 

 

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

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the State appropriates tens of millions of dollars each year to support efforts to address homelessness.  A large portion of these moneys goes to provider agencies that are contracted to provide services to homeless persons on behalf of the State.  The legislature believes it would be fiscally prudent to encourage more accountability by requiring that the department of human services track these appropriations and measure the effectiveness of these efforts based on objective indicia.

     Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to require the department of human services to develop a system that:

     (1)  Tracks appropriations made for contracts with provider agencies that provide services to homeless persons on behalf of the State;

     (2)  Measures the effectiveness of services provided by these agencies; and

     (3)  Is regularly updated and accessible to the public.

     SECTION 2.  Section 346-365, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "[[346-365[]]  Program administration.  (a)  To the extent that appropriations are made available, the department may contract with a provider agency to administer homeless facilities or any other program for the homeless created by this part.  The selection of provider agencies to administer homeless facilities or any other program for the homeless authorized by this part shall not be subject to chapters 42F, 102, and 103.  The selection of provider agencies shall be subject to qualifying standards and criteria established by rule.

     (b)  The provider agency shall be qualified by the department to operate and manage a homeless facility or any other program for the homeless authorized by this part pursuant to standards and criteria established by rules for eligibility.

     (c)  Notwithstanding the financial audit requirements of section 346-371, the department shall develop a system that:

     (1)  Tracks appropriations made for contracts with provider agencies under subsection (a);

     (2)  Records the demographics of the homeless persons served by each provider agency under subsection (a);

     (3)  Measures the effectiveness of services provided to homeless persons by provider agencies that receive moneys under subsection (a), based on objective indicia determined by the department, including:

          (A)  The amount of moneys an agency receives under subsection (a);

          (B)  The number of homeless persons served by the agency and, of this number, the number of chronically homeless persons served by the agency;

          (C)  The average length of stay by homeless persons the agency provided shelter to;

          (D)  The number of homeless persons placed into permanent housing by the agency and the average length of time these persons remained in permanent housing;

          (E)  The number of homeless persons who, after placement into permanent housing by the agency, returned to homelessness; and

          (F)  Any other relevant indicia;

     (4)  Is accessible to the public via an online platform; provided that the online platform allows the public to sort and filter data by:

          (A)  The type of service provided by the agency, including but not limited to emergency housing, transitional housing, or rapid rehousing; and

          (B)  The name of the provider agency; and

     (5)  Is updated on a quarterly basis using data obtained from the State's homeless management information system, also known as HMIS."

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 3000.


 


 

Report Title:

Homelessness; DHS; Appropriations; Provider Agencies; Tracking System

 

Description:

Requires the Department of Human Services to develop a regularly updated, publicly accessible system that tracks appropriations made for contracts with provider agencies that offer services to homeless persons on behalf of the State and measures the effectiveness of services provided by these agencies.  (HB2650 HD1)

 

 

 

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