THE SENATE

S.R. NO.

6

TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

recognizing the role of community health workers and requesting oversight and certification of community health workers.

 

 


     WHEREAS, community health workers are a key part of the State's healthcare process; and

 

     WHEREAS, community health workers are frontline health workers who have a deep understanding of the communities they serve; and

 

     WHEREAS, community health workers liaise among other health care providers, social service providers, and members of the community to facilitate access to care and services; and

 

     WHEREAS, community health workers work to educate patients and guide them through the health care system; and

 

     WHEREAS, community health workers have provided treatment in major health initiatives, including migrant health programs, AIDS outreach, transitions associated with welfare-to-work programs, and primary care medical homes; and

 

     WHEREAS, community health workers also provide advocacy, outreach, counseling, and culturally appropriate education; and

 

     WHEREAS, community health workers provide valuable resources, especially to rural, low-income, or isolated communities; and

 

     WHEREAS, community health workers may be the main point of contact between medical professionals, patients, and other services; and

 

     WHEREAS, community health worker is a rapidly growing profession, projected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to increase by sixteen percent over the next ten years; and

 

     WHEREAS, community health workers are not currently subject to training and certification requirements; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, that the Department of Health is requested to establish an oversight board for community health workers within one year; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the oversight board is requested to:

 

     (1)  Be composed of at least fifty percent community health workers; and

 

     (2)  Include a certification board with the power to approve curricula and training programs for community health workers; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the certification board is requested to:

 

     (1)  Provide for two tiers of community health worker, with one trainee tier requiring up to eighty hours of training, and a second full certification tier requiring one hundred sixty hours of combined classroom and practical training; and

 

     (2)  Offer full certification to any community health worker who has eighty hours or more of training, has two thousand hours or more of experience as a community health worker within the past four years, and meets current standards of competence, who applies within the first two years of the establishment of any certification program; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to perform an analysis of the value offered by community health workers, the role that community health workers play in the health care system, and appropriate methods of reimbursement for community health workers, including direct hiring and providing reimbursement through multiple avenues; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Community Health Workers; Oversight; Certification; Reimbursement