HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	28
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

ENCOURAGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS TO MEET AS A WORKING GROUP FOR SEXUAL-VIOLENCE PREVENTION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, sexual violence remains a serious and ongoing threat to the safety and health of children and youth in Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, more than half of sexual-violence survivors who receive services at Hawaii's sexual-assault treatment centers experienced their abuse before the age of 18 years; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Hawaii Youth Risk Behavior Survey for 2013, 2015, and 2017 indicated that children and youth in Hawaii experience sexual violence at rates equivalent to or higher than their mainland counterparts, and in some counties in Hawaii, these rates are substantially higher than elsewhere in the United States; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women and Arizona State University's Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research's 2019 report, "Sex Trafficking in Hawaii: The Stories of Survivors", recommended that Hawaii adopt public-school sexual-violence prevention education as a preventive measure to protect students from being trafficked; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education and Board of Education are committed to the tenets of Title IX and have made significant investments of time and effort to develop more robust systems to investigate and respond to allegations of sexual assault, bullying, harassment, and other forms of sexual violence in public schools; and

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education's Hawaii Content and Performance Standards III includes "Promoting Safety and Preventing Violence and Unintentional Injury", which addresses violence prevention as a priority risk topic; and

 

     WHEREAS, implementation of a program for sexual-violence-prevention education in public schools is important to protect children and youth in Hawaii and to better position the Department of Education's Title IX and anti-bullying efforts to succeed; and

 

     WHEREAS, prevention-oriented child-sexual-abuse prevention programs for public-school students, teachers and staff, and parents and guardians--known collectively as "Erin's Law" in honor of an Illinois survivor of child sexual abuse--have been implemented at the state and district level in 35 other states and the Territory of Guam and are being considered by the remaining 15 states; and

 

     WHEREAS, in October 2018, the Department of Education established a working group to collaborate with other agency and community stakeholders to review Hawaii public schools' current prevention-oriented child-sexual-abuse programs and resources and to initiate recommendations to strengthen integrated, comprehensive, and sustained support to ensure the well-being of Hawaii's children and youth; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2019, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Education and other agency and community stakeholders are encouraged to continue to meet as a working group; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that at least 20 days prior to the convening of the regular sessions of 2020 and 2021, the working group is requested to submit to the Legislature and Board of Education a report of its progress as well as any policy and resource recommendations, including any proposed legislation; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education and Superintendent of Education.

 

 

 

Report Title: 

Erin's Law; Department of Education; Working Group