HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

173

THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO PERFORM A STUDY TO DETERMINE IF THE GOVERNMENT AS A WHOLE IS ADEQUATELY ALLOCATING 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, and 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, four hundred twenty-four individuals, of which three hundred ninety-five were adults and twenty-nine were children, were experiencing unsheltered homelessness on the Waianae Coast; and

 

     WHEREAS, this number represents eighteen percent of the total number of two thousand three hundred fifty-five 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 (twenty-six percent, or six hundred twenty-two individuals) and Region 2 (twenty-four percent, or five hundred seventy-five individuals); and

 

     WHEREAS, in Region 7, eighty-two individuals, or fifty-seven percent, of surveyed adults were chronically homeless individuals; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is important to ensure that adequate funding is allocated 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 to determine if the government as a whole is adequately allocating 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 is requested to 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.

Report Title: 

Department of Human Services; Homeless Services; Study; Funding