THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	161
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH.

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that according to a 2021 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis, nearly forty per cent of high school students reported experiencing poor mental health during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and forty-four per cent reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in the last year. Significant investments in mental health are required to reverse these trends and to address the eroding mental well-being of adolescents.

The YMCA offers a number of services that promote health and well-being. The YMCA of Honolulu Youth Wellness Program for Mental Health proposes to engage four thousand five hundred youth between the ages of twelve and eighteen in therapeutic activities to help develop self-awareness, self-esteem, appropriate coping mechanisms, and stress management tools to address their mental health and wellness needs. Program activities would be conducted at YMCA locations and venues where services are easily accessible to the community and would take place outside normal school hours. Furthermore, this program proposes to:

(1) Enable the YMCA to build and strengthen its organizational capacity and expand its outreach services;

(2) Assist the YMCA in increasing the skills and knowledge required to provide wellness programs for mental health to all communities, especially those with the greatest needs, as well as collect the necessary data to demonstrate the impact of its programs; and

(3) Enable the YMCA to maximize resources through collaborative partnerships with businesses and agencies in the fields of mental health and substance abuse on a statewide basis.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to the YMCA of Honolulu as a grant-in-aid for the development and statewide implementation of the Youth Wellness Program for Mental Health.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $           or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2023-2024 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 as a grant-in-aid to the YMCA of Honolulu for the YMCA of Honolulu Youth Wellness Program for Mental Health to improve mental health and wellness needs of youths in the State.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the YMCA of Honolulu for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on December 31, 2050.

Report Title:

YMCA of Honolulu; Youth Wellness Program for Mental Health; Grant-in-Aid; Mental Health and Wellness; Youths

Description:

Appropriates grant funding to the YMCA of Honolulu for its Youth Wellness Program for Mental Health to address the statewide declining mental health outcomes of youths related to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Effective 12/31/2050. (SD1)

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.