Legislators support Fireworks bill

Rep. Marilyn Lee speaking at the signing of the city's fireworks bill

A number of state lawmakers were on hand to support the signing of a new fireworks bill for the city and county of Honolulu.

Acting Mayor Kirk Caldwell signs bill into law

Rep. Marilyn Lee, an active proponent of the bill, testified numerous times at the city council in favor of the bill's passage.

Lawmakers, Councilmembers join Acting Mayor and Honolulu Fire Chief

Easter Basket Drive 2010

In Photo: Rep. Marilyn Lee passes Rep. Cynthia Thielen a creative "basket" for the Institute of Human Services (IHS).

Members of the Women's Legislative Caucus helped to load a truck full of ~160 Easter baskets filled with essential items for needy families at the chamber level turnaround of the Hawaii State Capitol on Thursday, April 1, 2010.

Each year, the caucus holds an Easter Basket Project and puts out a call for Easter baskets or plastic storage containers filled with personal hygiene items, toiletries and non-perishable snacks to benefit clients of Institute of Human Services (IHS). This year IHS also requested supplies for their new keiki garden.

The caucus collected 210 baskets last year and 223 baskets in 2008.

IHS is Hawaii’s largest emergency shelter for people who are homeless, serving up to 200 men, 100 individual women and 23-27 families (with up to 60 keiki) every night. Through community support, IHS provides guests with toiletries, three hot nutritious meals a day, safe shelter, housing, employment, and supportive services.

Caregiving Report Moves Forward

Photo: Hawaii Business

The Joint Legislative Committee on Family Caregiving met today and voted to accept the draft committee report, and to authorize the chairs (Senator Ihara and Rep. Lee) to make any changes prior to submitting the final to the Senate President and Speaker of the House. The report is available at http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/ or click here. Based on the findings, draft legislation will be produced for introduction in the 2008 legislative session. Recommendation highlights include:

*The work of the committee be extended for one year beyond its sunset date of June 30, 2008, and that the name of the committee be changed to Joint Legislative Committee on Aging in Place.

*An appropriation for the Kupuna Care program administered by the Executive Office on Aging, to continue providing services to qualified caregivers.

*A tax credit for the cost of home modifications, or grants for home modification through Kupuna Care using a cash and counseling approach.

*Establish a caregiver tax credit for caregivers who provide care for qualified care recipients, or grants through Kupuna Care using a cash and counseling approach.

*That the University of Hawaii coordinate people and resources on elder issues. An interdisciplinary center of aging should be formally and physically established and should serve as the focal point of all information related to eldercare.

*Establish an employee-financed paid family leave program under the state Temporary Disability Insurance Law to provide wage replacement benefits to employees who take time off from work to care for a seriously ill family member.

*Appropriation of funds for a cash and counseling program in which non-Medicaid participants direct and manage their personal assistance services according to their own specific needs.

*Establish a task force to follow up on the issues raised by the grandparents raising grandchildren.

*That Emergency respite, overnight respite, and weekend respite be added as covered services under the Kupuna Care program.

*Adoption of a resolution to request the UH to include in its natural disaster planning program provisions to address the needs of Hawaii's elderly, particularly caregivers and elderly shut-ins.

Caregivers contribute to the state's economy

Rep. Marilyn Lee has an op-ed in this morning's Advertiser on the work of the Joint Committee on Family Caregiving. Main point? Don't just think of caregiving as volunteerism. That the elders in our society are also caregivers to other elders, and they are significant contributors to Hawaii's economy. The legislature appropriated $120,000 for a report and the results should be out very soon; it's due 20 days prior to the January 16th start of the 2008 session.

What Hawaii family caregivers need...

The Joint Legislative Committee on Family Caregiving met today to discuss the results of an assessment of 600 caregivers across Hawaii to help develop a comprehensive public policy program to support family caregivers who provide unpaid, informal assistance to persons sixty and older with physical or cognitive disabilities (Act 285, 2006). They also reviewed a report of respite care policies and programs in other states, and an inventory of respite services in Hawaii.

According to the results of the Needs Assessment of Family Caregivers in Hawaii, 73 percent of caregivers are female, they are generally young with an average age of 56 and more than half of caregivers are caring for an aging parent. In addition, approximately 12-15 percent of the surveyed caregivers have used community services such nursing, training, case management, legal services and transportation. However, many caregivers cited the need for better medical care and respite services.

The results of the respite service inventory in Hawaii lacked many answers to detailed audience and panel questions. The report listed 43 respite agencies, where only eight of them went offsite to relieve caregivers, and 23 only accepted private payment.In order to develop a comprehensive public policy program to aid these family caregivers more research surveys must be done to answer the following questions:

1. How many people can a respite take in at one time?
2. How much does it cost?
3. What are the hours of operation?
4. What are the terms of acceptance or rejection?
5. What kind of respite is provided? Emergency? Long-term? Short-term?

Meeting on Family Caregiving

What: The Joint Legislative Committee on Family Caregiving will meet to address the results of two research projects conducted by the Executive Office on Aging: (1)the Statewide Needs Assessment of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Hawaii, and (2)the 2007 Eldercare Survey of Hawaii's Employers. Senator Les Ihara and Rep. Marilyn Lee serve as co-chairs.

When: Tuesday, December 4th at 1:30 p.m.

Where: State Capitol, Room 225

Who: Dr. Lori Yancura of the UH Department of Family and Consumer Sciences will present the findings of the needs assessment involving the issues facing and needs of grandparents who are raising grandchildren in Hawaii. Dr. Pam Arnsburger of the UH School of Social Work will present findings of the employer's survey, including the extent of eldercare policies and benefits in the workplace, the effect of eldercare on workers, the views of eldercare as an employer issues, and why eldercare policies and benefits are offered or not.

Testimony: Public wishing to provide testimony are asked to contact the committee clerk at 586-6250.

Paid Family Leave Meeting set for Wednesday

Pre-empted by the Special Session, the Joint Legislative Committee on Family Caregiving re-scheduled their meeting for Wednesday, November 7th, 12:00 noon in Room 225 at the State Capitol. They'll be discussing the establishment of a Paid Family Leave Program under the State's Temporary Disability Insurance law. The proposed program would provide wage replacement benefits to employees who must take time off from work to care for a seriously ill family member. Rep. Marilyn Lee and Sen. Les Ihara serve as co-chairs.