Bill Text: HI SCR66 | 2015 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Early Head Start; Eligibility

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-04-01 - Report adopted, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM. [SCR66 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-SCR66-Amended.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	66
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, AND EXECUTIVE OFFICE ON EARLY LEARNING TO COLLABORATE AND EXPLORE THE FEASIBILITY OF EXPANDING THE EARLY HEAD START PROGRAM TO INCLUDE A BROADER RANGE OF INCOMES.

 

 

     WHEREAS, Early Head Start is a federal program that provides family-centered services that facilitate child development, support parental roles, and promote self-sufficiency; and

 

     WHEREAS, the overall goal of Early Head Start programs is to increase the social competence of young children in low-income families through family and child development; and

 

     WHEREAS, children who have been given early learning opportunities are more likely to grow into healthy, capable, and contributing adults; and

 

WHEREAS, Early Head Start programs serve infants, toddlers, and pregnant women and their families who have incomes below the federal poverty level; and

 

     WHEREAS, Early Head Start services are provided at no cost to families that qualify; and

 

     WHEREAS, regardless of income, Early Head Start services are available for pregnant women, children in foster care, homeless children, children from families receiving public assistance, and children with a disability certified through the Department of Education; and

 

     WHEREAS, all other families must qualify based on the federal poverty guidelines, which in Hawaii require that a family's household income be under $18,090 for a household of two and $27,430 for a household of four; and

 

     WHEREAS, the income eligibility requirement excludes some families that cannot afford to pay for early learning programs from receiving the services provided by Early Head Start; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Human Services, Department of Education, and Executive Office on Early Learning are requested to collaborate and explore the feasibility of expanding the Early Head Start program to include a broader range of incomes; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services, Department of Education, and Executive Office on Early Learning are requested to determine whether expanding income eligibility would allow children not currently receiving services to enroll in Early Head Start programs; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services, Department of Education, and Executive Office on Early Learning are requested to submit findings and recommendations, including a determination of whether broadening the income eligibility would address the gap of children not currently receiving services, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2016; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Human Services, Director of Health, Chairperson of the Board of Education, and Director of the Executive Office on Early Learning.

Report Title: 

Early Head Start; Eligibility