Bill Text: HI HCR155 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Concurrent Resolution 155 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Joint Legislative Committee on Aging in Place

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-04-28 - (H) Resolution adopted in final form. [HCR155 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2010-HCR155-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	155
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING the PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO AUTHORIZE THE JOINT legislative committee on aging in place to continue to meet and carry out the work of the committee.

WHEREAS, the Joint Legislative Committee on Family Caregiving was established by Act 285, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, for the purpose of developing a comprehensive public policy to strengthen support for family caregivers who provide unpaid, informal assistance to persons age sixty and older with physical or cognitive disabilities; and

WHEREAS, the committee was directed to consider providing support in categories including but not limited to coordinated services and policies, training and education, respite services, financial incentives, and balancing work and caregiving; and

WHEREAS, Act 285, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, also required the committee to submit its findings and recommendations to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2007; and

WHEREAS, in the fall of 2006, the committee held numerous meetings and submitted a special committee report to the legislature, which outlined its proposal for the establishment of a comprehensive and sustainable community-based family caregiver support system that will maximize resources in all communities; and

WHEREAS, in 2007, the Legislature found that it was still necessary to gather more information on family caregiving, to enable the State to apply resources and services in a more effective manner; and

WHEREAS, in 2007, the Legislature also recognized that grandparents who are caregivers for their grandchildren experience similar support needs and caregiving costs as do family caregivers for older adults, and that the National Family Caregiver Support Program under the reauthorized Older Americans Act includes grandparents of grandchildren age eighteen years and younger or nineteen years of age or older with physical and cognitive limitations; and

WHEREAS, Act 204, Session Laws of Hawaii 2007, expanded the mandate of the joint legislative committee by amending the definition of "family caregiver" to include non-relatives who provide unpaid, informal assistance to persons age sixty and older with physical or cognitive disabilities, and grandparents who are caregivers for grandchildren who are eighteen years of age or younger, or who are nineteen years of age or older with physical or cognitive limitations; and

WHEREAS, during the 2007 interim, the committee examined localized studies and surveys, some of which contained preliminary results, which provided concrete evidence of the needs of family caregivers, and the committee studied what other states have done and are doing in response to the growing concern regarding eldercare issues; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature recognized that the committee needed more time to complete its work, and in Act 220, Session Laws of Hawaii 2008, extended the term of the committee to June 30, 2010, and changed the name of the committee to the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging in Place; and

WHEREAS, during the 2009 interim, the committee continued to gather information in areas that advance family caregiver support and improve conditions for enabling elders to age in place; and

WHEREAS, on January 25, 2010, the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging in Place submitted a report to the Legislature, which contained findings and recommendations in the areas of interest to the committee, including the Kupuna Care and Preservation of the Safety Net, Aging and Disability Resource Center, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Home for Life Task Force, Home Care Concierge Service, Fall Prevention, Home Care Agency Licensure, University of Hawaii Center on Aging, and Long Term Care Commission; and

WHEREAS, the current fiscal constraints on the State have caused the committee to defer a number of its recommendations, including the following: providing additional funding for the Kupuna Care Program, Aging and Disability Resource Center, University of Hawaii Center on Aging, Sage PLUS for the neighbor islands, and cash and counseling model; providing new funding for a respite care directory, caregiver assistance, and home modification tax credits; and providing a funding mechanism to expand the paid family leave program to include family caregivers; and

WHEREAS, the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging in Place continues to monitor progress on its areas of interest and the legislation it has proposed; and

WHEREAS, the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging is scheduled to terminate on June 30, 2010; and

WHEREAS, to accomplish the purpose for which it was established, it is important that the members of the committee continue to meet beyond the date on which it is set to end; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, the Senate concurring, that the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives are requested to authorize the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging in Place to continue to meet until June 30, 2012; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives are urged to request that the members of the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging in Place submit any additional findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular sessions of 2011 and 2012, respectively; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature urges the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Taxation, the University of Hawaii, the Executive Office on Aging, and the elderly, disability, business, and faith communities, to continue to assist the members of the joint legislative committee in its efforts to continue the work mandated by Act 285, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, as amended; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, members of the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging in Place, the Director of Health, Director of Human Services, Director of Taxation, the President of the University of Hawaii, and the Director of the Executive Office on Aging.