STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2611

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                   

 

RE:     S.B. No. 2119

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2119 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ROOM CONFINEMENT OF CHILDREN AT DETENTION AND SHELTER FACILITIES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to limit the circumstances under which children and minors at shelters may be placed in room confinement and specifies the conditions and time limits for which room confinement may be imposed.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Judiciary, Office of the Public Defender, American Association of University Women of Hawaii, and one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that over the past decade, Hawaii's juvenile justice system has undergone a major philosophical shift from practices that exert control over youth through punishment toward evidence-based and trauma responsive approaches for holding youth accountable for conduct.

 

     Your Committee notes that facilities that rely on room confinement to control youth must also change their approach.  Research and experience establish that any perceived brief benefits of room confinement obscure the fact that room confinement is not an effective deterrent for misbehavior and that long periods of isolation have negative consequences for youth.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2119 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,

 

 

 

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RUSSELL E. RUDERMAN, Chair