Bill Text: HI HB1354 | 2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Keiki Caucus; Healthy Start; Enhanced Healthy Start; Appropriation
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Enrolled - Dead) 2009-05-11 - Carried over to 2010 Regular Session. [HB1354 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2010-HB1354-Amended.html
STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1045
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: H.B. No. 1354
H.D. 2
S.D. 1
Honorable Colleen Hanabusa
President of the Senate
Twenty-Fifth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2009
State of Hawaii
Madam:
Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 1354, H.D. 2, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILDREN,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to appropriate general revenue funds and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds to the Department of Human Services and the Department of Health for the Healthy Start and Enhanced Healthy Start programs to hire a child development or clinical specialist, fund provider training, address budgetary shortfalls, and implement recommended improvements.
Testimony in support of this measure was provided by Child and Family Service, Parents and Children Together, Catholic Charities Hawaii, Hawaii Family Forum, Good Beginnings Alliance, Hawaii Family Support Institute, and fifteen individuals.
Testimony in opposition to this measure was provided by the Department of Human Services. Written testimony presented to your Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.
Your Committee finds that in 2008, over ninety-nine per cent of families that were enrolled for twelve months or more in Healthy Start and Enhanced Healthy Start programs had no report of child abuse. Healthy Start works with families in which at least one parent is at substantial risk of abusing or neglecting a child. A stress checklist, developed using scientific data, determines the parental risk of child abuse and only those families with a high score are referred to Healthy Start. In 2008, Healthy Start served 4,000 families, with an estimated 520 children who were not abused because of the Healthy Start services. Healthy Start is a successful program, which has been replicated in thirty other states. In addition to home visits to prevent child abuse, Healthy Start ensures the family has a medical home, provides prenatal care for subsequent pregnancies, and performs developmental screenings for a high percentage of one and two year olds. Healthy Start and Enhanced Healthy Start address the problem of child abuse with effective and comprehensive programs, and work to break the cycle of abuse.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Including appropriation amounts for the maintenance of current Healthy Start support services;
(2) Including an appropriation amount for the Enhanced Healthy Start program; and
(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purpose of clarity.
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 H.B. No. 1354, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1354, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,
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____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair |
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