Bill Text: HI HCR114 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Concurrent Resolution 114 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Health, Department Of Human Services, And Department Of Education To Convene An Interdepartmental Working Group To Address The Lack Of Consolidated, Consistent Health Screening Programs In Public Schools For Children In The State.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-14 - Referred to HLT/LHE, FIN, referral sheet 33 [HCR114 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2019-HCR114-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	114
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting the department of health, department of human services, and department of education to convene an interdepartmental working group to address the lack of consolidated, consistent health screening programs in public schools for children in the State.

WHEREAS, chronic absenteeism, poor health, and delayed or limited access to health care and preventive health services continue to hinder students' academic success and schools' ability to meet the needs of the whole child; and

WHEREAS, school based health programs support the Department of Education in achieving student, school, and system success by providing school health services to public school children in complex areas across the State; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Education works with other state agencies, partnering health care and education organizations and interest groups, and families to improve attendance, behavior, and course marks; and

WHEREAS, these improvements are achieved by a network of school-community partnerships to improve access to and coordinate wrap-around services and address non-school factors that impede student success; and

WHEREAS, through school based health and community partnerships, the Departments of Health and Human Services have identified the extent of services provided within each department that are targeted to public school children and the need to coordinate internal departmental activity and cross-departmental efforts to develop sustainable school based health services; and

WHEREAS, vision, oral health, and behavioral health services are in high demand for school-aged children; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii has the highest prevalence of tooth decay in third grade children with seventy-one percent affected, well beyond the national average of fifty-two percent; and

WHEREAS, of high school children, twenty-nine percent have not visited a dentist in the past twelve months; and

WHEREAS, additionally, more than sixty percent of children in the State lack protective dental sealants, which are a cost effective means to prevent tooth decay; and

WHEREAS, similarly, approximately one in five children will naturally need glasses to participate fully in school, yet thirty-five percent of children have never seen an eye care professional; and

WHEREAS, one out of seven children ages two to eight years were diagnosed with a mental, behavioral, or developmental disorder, and between five and nine percent of children ages five to seventeen years have a serious emotional disturbance; and

WHEREAS, a significant gap in the current Hawaii health care system is effective awareness, diagnosis, and treatment of behavioral health conditions at all levels, including for school-aged children; and

WHEREAS, the school based health programs and services provided to public school children through a network of school-community partnerships lends an effective means to continue collaboration between health, human services, and education policymakers and health care providers to achieve sustainable, achievable, and comprehensive improvements to the environments in which community members learn, live, work, and play, so that academic and health outcomes of Hawaii's public school students can be achieved; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2019, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Health, Department of Human Services, and Department of Education are requested to convene an interdepartmental working group to address the lack of consolidated, consistent health screening programs in public schools for children in the State; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group include the following:

(1) A representative from the Department of Health;

(2) A representative from the Department of Human Services;

(3) A representative from the Department of Education;

(4) A representative from Hawaii Keiki: Healthy and Ready to Learn;

(5) A representative from the Hawaii Primary Care Association;

(6) A representative from Project Vision Hawaii;

(7) A representative from Hawaii Dental Service; and

(8) Health care provider representatives, including but not limited to pediatric primary care doctors and nurses, eye care professionals, audiologists, dentists, dental hygienists, and behavioral health specialists; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to submit their findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislative Reference Bureau no later than December 15, 2019; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit a final report of the working group's findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2020; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, Director of Health, Director of Human Services, Superintendent of Education, Executive Director of Hawaii Keiki: Healthy and Ready to Learn, Chief Executive Officer of the Hawaii Primary Care Association, Executive Director of Project Vision Hawaii, President of Hawaii Dental Service.