HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	180
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

REquesting the department of human services TO report on the cultural and therapeutic services provided by community-based organizations at the kawailoa youth and family wellness center.

WHEREAS, homelessness, poverty, and mental health are among the most pressing social issues within the State; and

WHEREAS, ten percent of Hawaii's homeless population is comprised of individuals under the age of eighteen years; and

WHEREAS, forty-four percent of homeless youth report having spent time in jail or a juvenile detention center; and

WHEREAS, "opportunity youth", sometimes referred to as disconnected youth, are between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four and are neither in school nor working; and

WHEREAS, state-sponsored working groups and recent reports have shown that community-based support centers for opportunity youth, or homeless or formerly incarcerated youth, substantially reduce:

(1) The likelihood that youth are incarcerated;

(2) The amount of time they spend incarcerated; and

(3) The likelihood that they experience homelessness; and

WHEREAS, the Opportunity Youth Action Hawaii hui at the Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center partners with state and nonprofit agencies to transform punitive modalities of treatment and incarceration with effective therapeutic community-based programs rooted in indigenous knowledge systems and cultural practices; and

WHEREAS, expanding state and private sector collaboration and implementing proven and effective therapeutic and cultural methods to promote youth wellness can help the State reduce homelessness and the negative effects of incarceration; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, that the Department of Human Services is requested to report on the positive effects of cultural and therapeutic services provided by community-based organizations at the Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report is requested to include plans for expanding state and private sector collaboration to reduce homelessness and the negative effects of incarceration and promote youth wellness; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services is requested to submit the report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2025; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Human Services.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Department of Health and Human Services; Community-based Organizations; Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness; Incarcerated Youth; Homeless Youth; Mental Health; Report