Bill Text: HI HB1081 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating To The Office Of Wellness And Resilience.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-23 - Referred to HSH, FIN, referral sheet 3 [HB1081 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2025-HB1081-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1081
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO THE OFFICE OF WELLNESS AND RESILIENCE.

 

 

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

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the office of wellness and resilience leads efforts to make Hawaii a trauma-informed state.  Trauma-informed care is defined as an approach to understanding, recognizing, respecting, and responding to the pervasive and widespread impacts of trauma on our ability to connect with ourselves and others, our place and the elements around us, and our ways of being.

     The legislature further finds that strengthening policies and programs to be trauma-informed can result in better workforce retention and recruitment.

     The legislature finds that the office of wellness and resilience is best suited to be a semi-autonomous authority under the department of human resources development because of its unique oversight of, and collaboration with, other executive state departments.

      The department of human resources development has oversight over all other state departments on topics of focus for the office of wellness and resilience and a trauma-informed state, including workplace environment and well-being, training and professional development, benefits, and recruitment and retention.

     The purpose of this Act is to transfer the office of wellness and resilience to the department of human resources development for administrative purposes only, establish a wellness and resilience advisory board within the department of human resources development, and update the office of wellness and resilience functions.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 27, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding to part IX a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§27-       Wellness and resilience advisory board; establishment; members; roles.  (a)  There is established within the department, for administrative purposes only, a wellness and resilience advisory board to advise the office in implementing this part.  The board shall consist of eleven members, with quorum being six members.  The eleven members shall be:

     (1)  The director of health, or the director's designee, who shall serve as the chairperson of the advisory board;

     (2)  The director of human services, or the director's designee;

     (3)  The superintendent of education, or the superintendent's designee;

     (4)  The director of corrections and rehabilitation, or the director's designee;

     (5)  The director of the executive office on early learning, or the director's designee;

     (6)  A member of the judiciary, to be appointed by the chief justice of the supreme court;

     (7)  A faculty member from the university of Hawaii John A. Burns school of medicine, to be appointed by the dean of the university of Hawaii John A. Burns school of medicine; and

     (8)  The following four members appointed by the    chairperson for a term of four years:

          (A)  The chief executive officer of Kamehameha Schools, or the chief executive officer's designee;

          (B)  A member of the law enforcement community;

          (C)  A member of the nonprofit sector; and

          (D)  A community member or nonprofit representative          from the Compact of Free Association islander community.

     (b)  The wellness and resilience advisory board shall advise on wellness and resilience through trauma-informed care in the State.  Specifically, the advisory board shall:

     (1)  Create, develop, and adopt a statewide framework for trauma-informed and responsive practice.  The framework shall include:

          (A)  A clear definition of "trauma-informed and responsive practice";

          (B)  Principles of trauma-informed and responsive care that may apply to any school, health care provider, law enforcement agency, community organization, state agency, or other entity that has contact with children or youth;

          (C)  Clear examples of how individuals and institutions may implement trauma-informed and responsive practices across different domains, including organizational leadership, workforce development, policy and decision-making, and evaluation;

          (D)  Strategies for preventing and addressing secondary traumatic stress for all professionals and providers working with children and youth and their families who have experienced trauma;

          (E)  Recommendations to implement trauma-informed care professional development and strategy requirements in county and state contracts; and

          (F)  An implementation and sustainability plan, consisting of an evaluation plan with suggested metrics for assessing ongoing progress of the framework;

     (2)  Identify best practices, including those from Native Hawaiian cultural practices, with respect to children and youth who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing trauma, and their families;

     (3)  Provide a trauma-informed care inventory and assessment of public and private agencies and departments;

     (4)  Identify various cultural practices that build wellness and resilience in communities;

     (5)  Convene trauma-informed care practitioners so that they may share research and strategies in helping communities build wellness and resilience;

     (6)  Seek ways in which federal funding may be used to better coordinate and improve the response to families impacted by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), substance use disorders, domestic violence, poverty, and other forms of trauma; and make recommendations, as necessary, for a government position to communicate with federal agencies to seek and leverage federal funding with county and state agencies and philanthropic organizations; and

     (7)  Coordinate data collection and funding streams to support the efforts of the board.

     (c)  The nongovernmental members of the wellness and resilience advisory board shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses, including travel expenses, necessary for the performance of their duties."

     SECTION 3.  Section 27-61, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

     (1)  By adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:

     ""Department" means the department of human resources development."

     (2)  By repealing the definition of "trauma-informed care task force".

     [""Trauma-informed care task force" means the trauma-informed care task force established pursuant to Act 209, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021."]

     SECTION 4.  Section 27-62, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

     "(a)  There is established within the [office of the governor, on a temporary basis and for special purposes,] department, for administrative purposes only, the office of wellness and resilience."

     SECTION 5.  Section 27-63, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "[[]§27-63[]]  Functions.  The office shall:

     (1)  Address issues identified and implement solutions recommended by the [trauma-informed care task force] wellness and resilience advisory board through a cross-representation of state departments and the private sector, including private donors;

     (2)  Identify common issues, unmet needs, and challenges encountered by departments and work to solve those issues through a cross-representation of state departments and the private sector, including private donors;

     (3)  Seek funding solutions using moneys that each department has access to, including federal, state, and private sources, and work with philanthropic organizations and other entities from the private sector to re-evaluate the State's funding priorities and find funding solutions to implement interdepartmental programming;

     (4)  Establish a procurement team that has cross-agency representation to streamline existing department grant and funding management and meet existing fiduciary obligations and other state requirements;

     (5)  Interact with community agencies, organizations, and other stakeholders to ensure the office is meeting the needs and wellness requirements of communities throughout the State; [and]

     (6)  Create a social determinants of health electronic dashboard that identifies a baseline of needs and concerns that impede high quality-of-life outcomes[.]; and

     (7)  Provide training and technical assistance to executive state departments and agencies to support trauma-informed policies, practices, programs, and processes."

     SECTION 6.  Chapter 346, part XXI, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     SECTION 7.  Act 209, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, is repealed.

     SECTION 8.  Act 87, Session Laws of Hawaii 2023, is repealed.

     SECTION 9.  All rights, powers, functions, and duties of the office of the governor relating to the office of wellness and resilience are transferred to the department of human resources development.

     All officers and employees whose functions are transferred by this Act shall be transferred with their functions and shall continue to perform their regular duties upon their transfer, subject to the state personnel laws and this Act.

     No officer or employee of the State having tenure shall suffer any loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefit or privilege as a consequence of this Act, and such officer or employee may be transferred or appointed to a civil service position without the necessity of examination; provided that the officer or employee possesses the minimum qualifications for the position to which transferred or appointed; and provided that subsequent changes in status may be made pursuant to applicable civil service and compensation laws.

     An officer or employee of the State who does not have tenure and who may be transferred or appointed to a civil service position as a consequence of this Act shall become a civil service employee without the loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefits or privileges and without the necessity of examination; provided that such officer or employee possesses the minimum qualifications for the position to which transferred or appointed.

     If an office or position held by an officer or employee having tenure is abolished, the officer or employee shall not thereby be separated from public employment, but shall remain in the employment of the State with the same pay and classification and shall be transferred to some other office or position for which the officer or employee is eligible under the personnel laws of the State as determined by the head of the department or the governor.

     SECTION 10.  All rules, policies, procedures, guidelines, and other material adopted or developed by the office of the governor to implement provisions of the Hawaii Revised Statutes that are reenacted or made applicable to the department of human resources development by this Act shall remain in full force and effect until amended or repealed by the department of human resources development pursuant to chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

     In the interim, every reference to the office of the governor or governor in those rules, policies, procedures, guidelines, and other material is amended to refer to the department of human resources development or director of human resources development, as appropriate.

     SECTION 11.  All deeds, leases, contracts, loans, agreements, permits, or other documents executed or entered into by or on behalf of the office of the governor, pursuant to the provisions of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, that are reenacted or made applicable to the department of human resources development by this Act, shall remain in full force and effect.  Upon the effective date of this Act, every reference to the office of the governor or governor therein shall be construed as a reference to the department of human resources development or director of human resources development, as appropriate.

     SECTION 12.  All appropriations, records, equipment, machines, files, supplies, contracts, books, papers, documents, maps, and other personal property heretofore made, used, acquired, or held by the office of the governor relating to the functions of the office of wellness and resilience transferred to the department of human resources development shall be transferred with the functions to which they relate.

     SECTION 13.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 14.  This Act, upon its approval, shall take effect on June 29, 2025.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________
	BY REQUEST

 

 

 

Report Title:

Office of Wellness and Resilience; Office of the Governor; DHRD

 

Description:

Transfers the Office of Wellness and Resilience to the Department of Human Resources Development on June 29, 2025.  Creates a wellness and resilience advisory board.  Updates the Office of Wellness and Resilience functions.

 

 

 

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