The Keiki Caucus: Safeguarding Our Future
by Senator Suzanne Chun-Oakland and Rep. Dennis Arakaki, co-convenors of the Hawaii State Legislature’s Keiki Caucus
One of the key responsibilities of Hawaii’s lawmakers is caring for the children of our island home, ensuring that they grow up in the kind of environment that will allow them to take their place as leaders of the futrue. That responsibilitiy extends to a number of areas, including education, child welfare, youth development, and health care. The 1994 state legislature and Governor John Waihee, officially established the Keiki Caucus in recognition of our responsibility toward generations to come.
Caucus members include Hawaii State Senators and Representatives and a community resource group of children and youth advocates and providers, who have been critical each year in assisting the Caucus with identifying priority areas for children and youth in Hawaii. The Keiki Caucus’s vision is that all Hawaii’s children should be healthy, safe, and ready to learn and succeed. Toward that goal, this year’s Keiki Caucus Package of 42 bills addresses such issues as substance abuse, education, youth development, child welfare, child safety, childcare, health, and self-sufficiency. Between May and December of 2004, the Keiki Caucus Resource Group reviewed a variety of measures, assigniing priorities to those most urgently needed.
Substance abuse continues to be a major problem with Hawaii’s youth. One bill proposes to restore full funding for the Healthy Hawaii Initiative for fiscal year 2004-2005 from the Tobacco Settlement Fund. It further authorizes the appropriation of money for Healthy Start Hawaii from general funds. Another bill appropriates funds for high schools, middle/intermediate schools, and elementary schools for substance abuse prevention and treatment programs. Another bill gives the Department of Health funding to ensure that parents with children under the age of nineteen are allowed the option of taking part in residential substance abuse treatment programs. Another bill provides for parity of insurance payments for substance abuse and mental health benefits — to treat them the same as physical conditions.
Education is a priority issue this legislative session, and a number of Keiki Caucus measures are aimed at helping young people make the most of educational opportunities. One measure provides for additional career counselors at public high schools. Another appropriates funds for full-time student activity coordinators. Yet another bill appropriates $1.8 million for the Department of Education to purchase new textbooks and provide a sufficient number of textbooks for every student enrolled in public schools.
The Keiki Caucus worked to provide fun, meaningful and interesting opportunities for children and youth to explore their potential; pursue career, educational, cultural, and recreational interests, and, at the same time, address the problem of young people getting into trouble during non-school hours. Funds are being requested for after-school, before school, weekend, and holiday programs that offer healthy alternatives to gangs and drugs. Child safety is addressed through a package of bills aimed at chld welfare and the problem of abuse and neglect within families. Citizens will be allowed to check off a space on their income tax forms that delivers funds to the Hawaii Children’s Trust Fund, a domestic violence prevention special fund, and spouse and chld abuse special accounts. Another requires members of the clergy to report cases of child abuse to the police or the Department of Human Services.
Adolescent health is a growing concern, and childhood obesity is on the rise. One of the bills in the Keiki Caucus Package proposes to establish a school nutrition advisory council and establish nutrition standards fo food and beverages sold in schools. Another bill appropriates funds to provide full-time physical education positions in the Department of Education to imporve physical education programs and promote healthier living. Also relating to the health of Hawaii’s young people is a bill that appropriates $200,000 to the department of Health for a 24-hour Hawaii poison hotline.
A measure to promote economic self-sufficiency for youth and their families provides for an annual adjustment to the state minimum wage based upon federal cost of living allowance increases.
This is the thime to understand that the issues that affect young people affect us all. These issues are central to our quality of life. We owe the children of Hawaii, and ourselves, our very best effort.