HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

173

THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the department of human services to perform a study on the Homeless Programs Office to determine if it is allocating adequate funding for each region of Oahu for homeless services.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the 2022 Point in Time Count for Oahu was conducted from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on March 10, 2022, which asked, in part, individuals where they had slept on the night of March 9, 2022; and

 

WHEREAS, the Point in Time Count for Oahu divided the island into seven geographic regions:

 

     (1)  Region 1:  Downtown Honolulu, Kalihi, and Nuuanu;

 

     (2)  Region 2:  East Honolulu;

 

     (3)  Region 3:  Ewa, Kapolei;

 

     (4)  Region 4:  Kaneohe to Waimanalo;

 

     (5)  Region 5:  Wahiawa to the North Shore;

 

     (6)  Region 6:  Upper Windward; and

 

     (7)  Region 7:  Waianae Coast; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the 2022 Point in Time Count for Oahu, 424 individuals (395 adults and 29 children; 261 individuals were observed and 163 individuals were surveyed) were experiencing unsheltered homelessness on the Waianae Coast; and

 

     WHEREAS, this number represents 18 percent of the total number of 2,355 individuals on Oahu who were experiencing unsheltered homelessness on March 9, 2022, which is the third-highest percentage on Oahu, surpassed only by Region 1 (26 percent, or 622 individuals) and Region 2 (24 percent, or 575 individuals); and

 

     WHEREAS, in Region 7, 57 percent, or 82, of surveyed adults were chronically homeless individuals; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is important to ensure that the Homeless Programs Office, which is part of the Department of Human Services, allocates adequate funding for each region of Oahu for homeless services; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, that the Department of Human Services is requested to perform a study on the Homeless Programs Office to determine if it is allocating adequate funding for each region of Oahu for homeless services; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that for the purposes of this study, the regions of Oahu be delineated pursuant to the 2022 Point in Time Count for Oahu; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services shall submit the results of its study, including any findings and recommendations, to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2024; and

 

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

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Department of Human Services; Homeless Programs Office; Homeless Services; Funding