Bill Text: HI SCR89 | 2023 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Concurrent Resolution 89 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Health And Department Of Public Safety To Work In Collaboration To Preserve The Health And Safety Of Special Needs Inmates And Others In The State's Jails And Prisons.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-04-11 - Referred to CMV, JHA, referral sheet 28 [SCR89 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2023-SCR89-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	89
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Requesting the Department of Health and Department of Public Safety to work in collaboration to preserve the health and safety of special needs inmates and others in The State's jails and prisons.

WHEREAS, the Department of Public Safety is statutorily required to provide mental health services to inmates in community correctional centers; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Public Safety is also statutorily required to develop and make available gender-responsive, community-based programs for women offenders by providing them with the appropriate range of opportunities to ensure that their needs are met, including programs designed to provide substance abuse and mental health treatments, as appropriate; and

WHEREAS, to preserve the health and safety of inmates and others, the Department of Public Safety has adopted a corrections administration policy that establishes communication guidelines between the facility administrator and treating clinicians or their designees regarding significant medical and mental health needs of inmates prior to transfers or programming; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Public Safety is transitioning into a rehabilitative and therapeutic model of corrections administration, and therefore, there is a need to revise the training programs for its line correctional officers with increased focus on the administration of inmates who are contending with a myriad of mental health and behavioral issues; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Health has expertise in identifying and addressing mental health and behavioral issues, including provision of mental health education, treatment, and rehabilitation services; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Health and Department of Public Safety can work together to address various issues relating to inmates in the State's jails and prisons with medical or mental health disabilities or disorders that interfere with the ability to carry out normal activities (identified as "special needs inmates" by the Department of Public Safety); and

WHEREAS, the line staff of the Department of Public Safety would benefit greatly from receiving training from the Department of Health on the subject of mental health and behavioral issues; and

WHEREAS, a collaboration between the Department of Health and Department of Public Safety to preserve the health and safety of special needs inmates and others in the State's jails and prisons would benefit both departments as well as the larger community; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Health and Department of Public Safety, and as of January 1, 2024, its successor, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, are requested to work in collaboration to preserve the health and safety of special needs inmates and others in the State's jails and prisons; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Corrections System Oversight Commission is requested to provide oversight of the collaboration between the departments to ensure the well-being of special needs inmates and that their significant medical and mental health needs are being adequately addressed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Health, Director of Public Safety, and Oversight Coordinator of the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Special Needs Inmates; Medical and Mental Health Disabilities and Disorders; Department of Health; Department of Public Safety; Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation