STAND. COM. REP. NO. 964

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 918

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 918, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EARLY INTERVENTION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to increase the efficiency and quality of Hawaii's early intervention services by appropriating funds for a web-based data system in the Department of Health's Early Intervention Section.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Executive Office on Early Learning, State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Special Education Advisory Council, Early Childhood Action Strategy, Hawaii Early Intervention Coordinating Council, Imua Family Services, Hawaii Children's Action Network, Chamber of Commerce for Persons with Disabilities-Hawaii, and one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

     Your Committee finds that the Department of Health provides early intervention services through twenty service providers to approximately 3,500 children each year, and that early intervention services have numerous benefits for children, families, and society.  A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis found an economic advantage of quality intervention services equal to an $8 return for every $1 invested in early intervention.  Society benefits from healthier children, more efficient use of school services, and less use of the criminal justice system.

     Your Committee further finds that while thirty-four states nationwide have web-based early intervention data systems, the Department of Health's Early Intervention Section data system is paper-based and outdated.  Your Committee notes that updating to an efficient data system to coordinate and track services for toddlers and preschoolers will help ensure timely and appropriate interventions for vulnerable keiki, and that it is important to build interagency partnerships among state agencies in health, education, human services, and developmental disabilities to enhance the development of infants and toddlers with disabilities.  Your Committee finds that updating the data system will improve tracking of services and progress of each child, better serve families, and generate better outcomes for Hawaii's keiki.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting language to the purpose section to clarify that the proposed data system will have the capacity to interface with other state data systems containing information related to young children; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 918, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 918, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair