Bill Text: HI HCR155 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Concurrent Resolution 155 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Urging The City And County Of Honolulu And Honolulu Police Department To Address The Ongoing Houselessness Crisis And Develop Solutions For Providing Care And Services For These Individuals While Ensuring Community Safety.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-03-31 - Referred to HMS/PSM. [HCR155 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-HCR155-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	155
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

urging the city and county of honolulu and Honolulu police DEPARTMENT to address the ongoing houselessness crisis and develop solutions for providing care and services for these individuals WHILE ENSURING community safety.

WHEREAS, Hawaii has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the nation, with forty-six out of every ten thousand people in Hawaii being reported as homeless; and

WHEREAS, in addition to posing a direct risk to the health and safety of affected individuals, homelessness also serves as an added stressor or contributing factor in many crimes; and

WHEREAS, as of September 30, 2021, the �Ohana Zone program has served five thousand sixty-seven individuals and placed eleven hundred twenty-nine individuals into permanent housing; and

WHEREAS, the Homeless Outreach and Navigation for Unsheltered Persons (HONU) program is a mobile facility that provides short-term shelter services and navigation to connect homeless individuals and families to longer-term sheltering and other housing options; and

WHEREAS, HONU is funded through the �Ohana Zone program and operated by the City and County of Honolulu's Department of Community Services in conjunction with the Honolulu Police Department; and

WHEREAS, HONU will rotate through multiple locations on Oahu for a maximum of ninety days at a time; and

WHEREAS, establishing sites to provide HONU services in each City Council district on Oahu and extending the time HONU operates in each site would increase access to transitional services for unsheltered persons; and

WHEREAS, there is a growing concern about violent crime committed by unsheltered persons; and

WHEREAS, a three strikes program would allow police to detain an individual with a record of committing violent crimes; and

WHEREAS, Weed & Seed Hawai�i, Inc., is a community-based organization that works with law enforcement to reduce crime in communities and develop community solutions to crimes in neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, Weed & Seed Hawai�i has site programs located in downtown Honolulu, Waipahu, and Ewa Beach; and

WHEREAS, homelessness is a multifaceted issue and expanding various existing initiatives that target specific elements of the homeless crisis, particularly better access to services and reducing crime, is an important step in addressing homelessness in Hawaii; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the Senate concurring, that the City and County of Honolulu and Honolulu Police Department are requested to address the ongoing houselessness crisis and develop solutions for providing care and services for these individuals while ensuring community safety; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City and County of Honolulu and Honolulu Police Department are further requested to establish HONU sites in each City Council district on Oahu and extend the time HONU operates in each site beyond ninety days; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Honolulu Police Department is requested to implement a three strikes program to allow for the detention of an unsheltered person with a record of three or more counts of assault; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Honolulu Police Department is further requested to work with Weed & Seed Hawai�i, Inc., to develop community policing solutions to address violent crime committed by or occurring within the homeless population in the Waianae Coast community; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, Interim Chief of Police of the Honolulu Police Department, and President of Weed & Seed Hawai�i, Inc.