STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3092

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2340

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2340, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COMMUNITY CARE FOSTER FAMILY HOMES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who meet an intermediate care facility or nursing facility level of care shall not be denied residency in a licensed community care foster family home solely because of their disability or enrollment in a specific Medicaid waiver program.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Disability and Communication Access Board, Hawaiʻi Self‑Advocacy Advisory Council, Aloha Independent Living Hawaii, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, and six individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services and Developmental Disabilities Division of the Department of Health.

Your Committee finds that community care foster family homes provide an important service for individuals who need twenty‑four hour support. Currently, individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are enrolled in a Medicaid intellectual disabilities home and community-based services (HCBS I/DD) waiver program, and wish to reside in a community care foster family home must disenroll from and transition into the Medicaid Section 1115 Waiver Program. This requirement disrupts continuity of care and may cause the loss of essential, individualized services. This measure will eliminate this requirement, ensuring that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities may remain enrolled in the HCBS I/DD waiver program and continue to receive the specialized care that they need.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2340, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2340, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

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KARL RHOADS, Chair