HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	967
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that poor mental health is a growing national concern for college students.  College counseling centers are increasingly understaffed.  According to a 2011 Government Relations Update by the American Psychological Association:

     (1)  Since the mid-1990s, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of students seeking help for serious mental health problems;

     (2)  Depression and anxiety are consistently the most common mental health disorders treated at college counseling centers;

     (3)  The numbers of students struggling with eating disorders, substance abuse, and self-injury have increased; and

     (4)  Because of the growing need for services, over seventy-six per cent of college counseling directors reported that they reduced the number of visits for non-crisis patients to cope with the increasing overall number of clients.

     In addition, a 2016 survey by American College Health Association reported that over a twelve-month period:

     (1)  Nearly fifty per cent of college students reported feeling hopeless;

     (2)  Over thirty-six per cent of college students reported feeling so depressed that it was difficult to function; and

     (3)  Almost ten per cent of college students seriously considered suicide.

     The legislature further finds that at the University of Hawaii at Manoa:

     (1)  College is a ripe environment for certain disorders to manifest;

     (2)  The average enrollment is twenty thousand students;

     (3)  There are only seven and one-half tenured track psychologist positions (7.5 FTE), even though the national guideline is one licensed psychologist for every one thousand to one thousand five hundred students;

     (4)  The non-urgent waitlist for individual psychotherapy services at the University of Hawaii at Manoa's counseling and student development center begins by September of each year, and at peak times, a wait for an initial intake appointment can range from five days to two and a half weeks;

     (5)  The counseling and student development center is losing staff as a result of uncompetitive pay, since staff members are leaving to work in private practice; and

     (6)  There is a need for a case manager to help with consistent follow-ups for student mental health clients.

     The purpose of this Act is to advance students' mental health treatment by appropriating moneys to:

     (1)  Establish and fund three full-time psychologist positions (3.0 FTE); and

     (2)  Establish and fund one full-time case manager position (1.0 FTE),

at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

     SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2017-2018 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2018-2019 for the University of Hawaii at Manoa to hire three full-time equivalent psychologists (3.0 FTE) to provide student mental health services.

     The sums appropriated shall be expended by the University of Hawaii at Manoa for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 3.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2017-2018 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2018-2019 for the University of Hawaii at Manoa to hire one full-time equivalent case manager (1.0 FTE) to provide student mental health services.

     The sums appropriated shall be expended by the University of Hawaii at Manoa for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.

 

 

Report Title:

University of Hawaii at Manoa; Students; Mental Health Services; Appropriation

 

Description:

Appropriates moneys for the University of Hawaii to hire three psychologists and one case manager to provide student mental health services.  (HB967 HD1)

 

 

 

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