STAND. COM. REP. NO. 406

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 310

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 310 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILDREN AND FAMILY OF INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Human Services and the Department of Public Safety for the pilot visitation and family resource center at the Wahiawa Correctional Facility on Oahu, including funding for the construction of a restroom in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Public Safety, Department of Human Services, Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission, Community Alliance on Prisons, Blueprint For Change, Hawai‘i Youth Services Network, Hawai‘i Children's Action Network Speaks!, Papa Ola Lōkahi, and six individuals.

Your Committees find that families play a crucial role in the rehabilitation of inmates, particularly if the inmate has children. Additionally, your Committees recognize that a suitable environment for visitation that provides opportunity for face-to-face reconnection is necessary for the minimization of trauma for both the incarcerated individuals and their families, especially their young children. Establishing an appropriate setting for such visitation is significant because it allows families to strengthen their relationships and ultimately nourish the well-being of the incarcerated individual, their family members, and society as a whole. This measure provides funding to establish a pilot visitation and family resource center at Waiawa Correctional Facility to achieve these goals.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services and Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 310 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services and Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair