HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

102

TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the auditor to conduct a performance and management audit of the adult protective and community services branch of the department of human services.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the Adult Protective and Community Services Branch of the Department of Human Services, among its other duties, provides crisis intervention, without regard to income, including investigation and emergency services for vulnerable adults who are reported to be abused, neglected, or financially exploited by others or seriously endangered due to self-neglect; and

 

     WHEREAS, the number of reports alleging adult abuse or neglect that were received by the Adult Protective and Community Services Branch have ranged from four hundred fifty-three in fiscal year 1999 to nine hundred eighty in fiscal year 2015; and

 

     WHEREAS, most recently, the Adult Protective and Community Services Branch received seven hundred nine reports in fiscal year 2017; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Adult Protective and Community Services Branch, upon investigation, substantiated the occurrence of adult abuse or neglect in fewer than two hundred fifty of the reports it received each fiscal year since 1999; and

 

     WHEREAS, adult abuse and neglect present serious problems; and

 

     WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to determine whether the Adult Protective and Community Services Branch has the personnel and other resources necessary to effectively investigate allegations of adult abuse and neglect and otherwise perform its duties; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, the Senate concurring, that the Auditor is requested to conduct a performance and management audit of the Adult Protective and Community Services Branch of the Department of Human Services; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the audit is requested to, at a minimum, assess the branch's compliance with laws, policies, and procedures in:

 

     (1)  Investigating and substantiating reports of adult abuse and neglect;

 

     (2)  Providing services for substantiated cases of adult abuse or neglect, including risk assessment methods to assess whether an adult is vulnerable and in danger of harm from abuse or neglect;

 

     (3)  Establishing, maintaining, and enforcing policies that safeguard the rights and assets of vulnerable adults from exploitation by Department of Human Services employees or other persons; and

 

     (4)  Providing effective oversight and supervision of all branch offices; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to submit a report of any findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2019; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor and the Director of Human Services.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Adult Abuse and Neglect; DHS; Adult Protective and Community Services Branch; Auditor