REPORT TITLE:
University of Hawaii


DESCRIPTION:
Appropriates funds for a graduate counseling psychology program
at UH-Hilo.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.969        
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO HIGHER EDUCATION.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The big island of Hawaii has the unenviable
 
 2 status of having the highest rate of economic, health, social,
 
 3 and psychological problems in the state.  For example, it has the
 
 4 highest unemployment rate, the highest death rate from all
 
 5 causes, the highest rate of child abuse and domestic violence,
 
 6 and the highest rate of suicide and substance abuse of all
 
 7 islands.  Those who suffer from these problems need the
 
 8 assistance of professionally-trained counselors to help improve
 
 9 the quality of their lives.  Unfortunately, there is a shortage
 
10 of such counselors on the island where the need is greatest.
 
11 Most of these professional, master's level positions in both the
 
12 private and public sectors have been filled by individuals who
 
13 relocated to the big island from other islands or other states.
 
14 In some cases, these positions were even filled by people who
 
15 lacked the requisite credentials.  Very few of the positions have
 
16 been filled by master's level counselors from the big island due
 
17 to an absence of a graduate training program there.
 

 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.969        
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      The proposed prison on the big island will generate an
 
 2 additional community need.  With the establishment of a 2,000-
 
 3 inmate facility on the big island, there will be an increased
 
 4 need for trained professionals in counseling psychology.  A
 
 5 master's degree program on the big island would enable those who
 
 6 already have baccalaureate degrees to qualify with additional
 
 7 training.
 
 8      The Felix v. Cayetano consent decree has created an added
 
 9 dimension to this issue.  By mandating the State to provide an
 
10 adequate level of mental health services to school children, the
 
11 consent decree has essentially required an increase in the number
 
12 of qualified counselors to provide those services.  For example,
 
13 the Hawaii district office of the department of education is
 
14 currently engaged in a project to hire and place school-based
 
15 mental health counselors at each school on the island.  Trained
 
16 individuals to fill these positions must come from other islands
 
17 or states since schools on the big island are already having
 
18 difficulty filling their traditional counseling positions with
 
19 certified counselors.  Adequately trained professionals for these
 
20 traditional school counselor positions or the new school-based
 
21 mental health counselor positions could come from the big island
 
22 itself if a graduate training program in counseling psychology
 
23 were available.
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.969        
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      In the last legislative session, the legislature enacted Act
 
 2 159, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, to regulate the profession of
 
 3 marriage and family therapists.  The Act states that "Both public
 
 4 and private universities in Hawaii seek to establish graduate
 
 5 marriage and family therapy training programs.  However, they
 
 6 hesitate to establish these programs until the profession is
 
 7 regulated to ensure the employment of their graduates in Hawaii
 
 8 once trained."  The University of Hawaii currently has no
 
 9 graduate program that specifically trains marriage and family
 
10 therapists.  Creating such a program would serve the needs and
 
11 interests addressed by the last legislative session in adopting
 
12 the licensure bill for this profession.
 
13      The University of Hawaii at Hilo is uniquely positioned to
 
14 provide graduate training in counseling psychology.  Establishing
 
15 a program at that campus would help to resolve the critical
 
16 shortage of adequately trained counselors on the island, fulfill
 
17 the need for graduate trained professionals for the planned
 
18 construction of a correctional facility, assist the State in
 
19 satisfying the court mandates under the Felix v. Cayetano decree,
 
20 and provide training for marriage and family therapists who may
 
21 be licensed under the new licensing law.  In addition, the
 
22 University of Hawaii at Hilo has been granted the authority by
 
23 the board of regents to create a master of arts degree in
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.969        
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 selected areas.  Finally, the University of Hawaii at Hilo has
 
 2 adopted a strategic plan that includes a strategic theme
 
 3 addressing the needs of big island communities.
 
 4      The purpose of this Act is to establish and operate a
 
 5 graduate counseling psychology program at the University of
 
 6 Hawaii at Hilo.  
 
 7      SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
 8 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $261,689 or so much
 
 9 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999-2000 and the sum
 
10 of $372,469 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal
 
11 year 2000-2001 to establish and operate a graduate counseling
 
12 psychology program at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, as
 
13 follows:
 
14      Fiscal year 1999-2000
 
15           3 faculty, lecturers, and 
 
16                2 half-time graduate assistants         $  204,712
 
17           1 secretary                                      24,877
 
18           Equipment and current expenses                   32,100
 
19           Total funding                                   261,689
 
20      Fiscal year 2000-2001
 
21           5 faculty, lecturers, and
 
22                2 half-time graduate assistants           $322,747
 
23           1 secretary                                      25,872
 
24           Equipment and current expenses                   23,850
 
25           Total funding                                   372,469
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.969        
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 3.  The sums appropriated shall be expended by the
 
 2 University of Hawaii for the purposes of this Act.
 
 3      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.
 
 4 
 
 5                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________