July 15: Lawmakers to hold info briefing on ‘chronic homeless’

The House Committees on Housing and Human Services will hold an informational briefing on Thursday, July 15 at 10:00 a.m. to address the “chronically homeless” and discuss the Housing First Pilot Program which was passed by the Legislature and became law as Act 212. The program provides immediate housing for the chronically homeless, which include those who may suffer from mental illness and/or drug addiction.

The briefing will:

·      Explore plausible service providers for the Housing First Pilot Program
·      Review the effect of evicting the homeless from one park to the next and explore instead the possibility of designating “safe zones.”
·      Review barriers to housing for Hawaii’s homeless and seek to identify the major reasons for homelessness in Hawaii.

The following groups have been invited: United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, State Department of Human Services, Hawaii Public Housing Authority, The Institute for Human Services, Waikiki Health Center, University of Hawaii’s Center on the Family, Hina Mauka, Hawaii Association of Realtors, River of Life, Help the Hawaii Homeless, People of the Promise Church, State and County rental housing and low-income housing programs, and other agencies and faith based organizations that receive state funding to address houselessness and other related human services or housing providers of emergency and transitional housing.

House Informational Briefing
Hawaii State Capitol, Room 325
Thursday, July 15 10:00 a.m.
Televised on Oahu Ch. 53
Streamed online live at www.olelo.org (click on “Ch. 53”)