THE SENATE                           S.R. NO.              60
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON WATER, LAND, AND HAWAIIAN
    AFFAIRS TO CONDUCT AN INVENTORY OF EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE
    SERVICES PROVIDED TO NATIVE HAWAIIANS. 


 1        WHEREAS, significant economic and social changes during
 2   the past twenty years have made child care and early education
 3   issues a high priority in our State's public policy agenda; and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, as more parents enter the work force, including
 6   more women and two-parent families of all income levels, it is
 7   important to help them secure child care that is both
 8   affordable and supportive of the child's development; and
 9   
10        WHEREAS, recent scientific evidence about the brain
11   confirms that learning begins at birth and that very young
12   children benefit from stimulating attention with responsive
13   caregivers, including parents and others outside the home; and
14   
15        WHEREAS, other scientific studies show that quality early
16   care and education services have a dramatic long-term effect on
17   a child's ability to succeed in school, achieve economically,
18   and avoid the criminal justice system; and
19   
20        WHEREAS, reliable, affordable care for working families
21   clearly benefits the current work force as well, affecting
22   economic initiatives, productivity of workers, and the success
23   of the State's welfare-to-work initiatives; and 
24   
25        WHEREAS, both the public and private sectors benefit from
26   early childhood care and education centers and should work
27   together to ensure the State's children are properly cared for;
28   and
29   
30        WHEREAS, because Native Hawaiians have traditionally been
31   disadvantaged, the State has an obligation to aid in the
32   provision of services to Native Hawaiians, including early
33   childhood education services; and
34   
35        WHEREAS, currently while there are many Native Hawaiian

 
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                                  S.R. NO.              60
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1   interest organizations, it is unknown how many of these
 2   organizations provide early childhood education services to
 3   Native Hawaiian children; now, therefore,
 4   
 5        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
 6   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, that the
 7   Senate Committee on Water, Land, and Hawaiian Affairs, during
 8   the 1999 interim, conduct an inventory of early childhood
 9   education services provided to Native Hawaiians by Native
10   Hawaiian interest organizations including, but not limited to,
11   the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Kamehameha Schools/Bishop
12   Estate, and Alu Like, Inc.; and
13   
14        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this comprehensive study shall
15   include, but not be limited to, descriptions of early childhood
16   education services that are currently provided to Native
17   Hawaiians and where these services are being provided, figures
18   detailing how many children are being served, an evaluation of
19   the effectiveness of these services, and recommendations for
20   further legislative actions; and
21   
22        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate Committee on Water,
23   Land, and Hawaiian Affairs report its findings to the Senate no
24   less than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular
25   session of 2000; and
26   
27        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
28   Resolution be transmitted to the Senate President, the Chair of
29   the Senate Committee on Water, Land, and Hawaiian Affairs, the
30   Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate,
31   and Alu Like, Inc.
32 
33 
34 
35                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________