HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-01-24 Letter to Josh Green re SB 2276 re Child Welfare Services-signed
WilOkabe
Managing Director
Harry Kim
Mayor
Barbara J. Kossow
Deputy Managing Director
County of Hawai‘i
Office of the Mayor
25 Aupuni Street, Suite 2603 Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720(808) 961-8211Fax (808) 961-6553
KONA: 74-5044lole Hwy., Bldg C Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i 96740
(808) 323-4444 Fax (808) 323-4440
January 24, 2018
Senator Josh Green
Hawai'iState Capitol, Room 407
Hawai'iState Capitol
Honolulu, HI 96813
Dear Chair Green and Committee members:
RE:SB 2276 – Relating to Child Welfare Services
Hearing date: 01-26-18; 2:45 pm – Conference Room 016
Thank you for this opportunity to testify in support of SB2276.
My staff and I have been made aware of the critical need to improve child welfare
services in Hawai’i County. While both your East and West Hawai’i offices are suffering
from a shortage of manpower, the initiative proposed in SB 2276 recognizes the reality
that it is in East Hawai’i where the State has the best chanceto hire and retain the
necessary personnel.
If the numbers I have seen are accurate, the child welfare caseload in East
Hawai’i is shocking and disturbing. Child welfare workers have so many clients that it
would be considered unacceptable by national standards, and the caseload is even out
of line compared to other counties in Hawai’i. Add to that the handicap of being asked
to cover a huge geographic area, requiring a great deal of time-consuming travel, and it
is no wonder that the community is begging for your assistance.
I am not sure why the positions and funding requested in SB 2276 should be
considered a “pilot project,” but if that is determined to be the best way to give some
relief to the East Hawai’i workers and the keiki they serve, then I defer to your wisdom
on that matter. My main concern is that the workers and their clients get the relief called
for, and the sooner the better.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Wil Okabe
Managing Director
County of Hawai‘i is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.