STAND. COM. REP. NO. 144

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 588

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Human Services and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 588 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOMELESSNESS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Define "emergency shelter" to mean a homeless facility designed to provide temporary shelter and services for up to six months;

 

     (2)  Allow homeless shelter stipends to be adjusted at the end of each year based upon achievement of performance measures;

 

     (3)  Require homeless shelters to have no fewer than one shower, one sink, and one toilet per twenty-five residents and the minimum area of each partitioned space to be determined by the number of residents and capacity of the shelter;

 

     (4)  Establish that the storage space at a homeless shelter shall be determined by each shelter's space availability;

 

     (5)  Remove the Department of Human Services' authority to require shelters to comply with additional requirements;

 

     (6)  Establish and fund two permanent full-time equivalent (2.0 FTE) positions to assist in the implementation of the homeless shelter program; and

 

     (7)  Appropriate funds for homeless shelters and other non-recurring costs.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Waikiki Health; Hawaii Habitat for Humanity Association, Inc.; Hoomana Pono, LLC.; Faith Action for Community Equity, Maui; and four individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness and Department of Human Services.

 

     Your Committees find that homelessness continues to be one of the State's most significant and challenging social problems.  In an attempt to make the homeless shelter system more cost effective and more appealing to families and individuals, the Legislature enacted Act 234, Session Laws of Hawaii 2016, to establish minimum requirements for every homeless emergency shelter operated by a provider agency that is under contract with the Department of Human Services.  However, there is wide variation in the configuration of homeless emergency shelters across the State.  Because homeless emergency shelters need sufficient flexibility to address the diverse needs of homeless individuals and families across the State, it is critical that the Department of Human Services allows enough time for homeless emergency shelters to bring shelter space into compliance with the Department's requirements.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Clarifying language in section 1 of Act 234, Session Laws of Hawaii 2016, related to requiring homeless shelter stipend payments to be made with a goal of achieving performance measures;

 

     (2)  Deleting from the definition of "emergency shelter" the six-month limitation on the provision of temporary shelter and appropriate and available services;

 

     (3)  Specifying that emergency shelters are authorized, rather than mandated, to have partitioned space for each homeless family or individual that provides separation from other homeless families or individuals in the shelter;

 

     (4)  Deleting language that would have established and appropriated funds for two permanent full-time equivalent (2.0 FTE) program specialist IV positions to assist in the operation of the homeless shelter program;

 

     (5)  Deleting language that would have appropriated funds for the establishment or improvement of emergency and transitional shelters for the homeless and funding other projects or programs to assist homeless families and individuals; and

 

     (6)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 588, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 588, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Housing,

 

________________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair

 

________________________________

JOSH GREEN, Chair