The state’s bipartisan Keiki Caucus announced at a state Capitol news conference Thursday the package of bills it supports this session includes measures on anti-bullying efforts, suicide prevention and establishing safe places for youth.
To address bullying, including cyberbullying, Senate Bill 865 would require all school and youth service agencies to create and implement anti-bullying policies. It also seeks to establish a task force to provide guidance in bullying prevention and require bullying prevention training for all employees and volunteers who work with youths.
The caucus also backs Senate Bill 978 to allocate funding to the Department of Education for anti-bullying and suicide prevention efforts. According to Nancy Deeley, suicide prevention coordinator of the Department of Health’s Injury Prevention and Control Section, 49 suicides of young people ages 10 to 19 occurred from 2009 to 2013, making suicide the second leading cause of death in Hawaii for this age group after motor vehicle crashes.
For every child who dies from suicide in Hawaii, approximately five are hospitalized due to a suicide attempt, and 14 are treated at emergency rooms for nonfatal, self-inflicted injuries every year, according to the Injury Program and Control Section.
Another bill seeks to establish safe places for youth to go to when faced with adverse situations such as bullying at school, tensions at home or riding with an unsafe driver.
As it stands now, "They don’t know who to turn to," said Edralyn Caberto of the Office of Youth Services.
Bill 979 says the program would provide a place and people for youth to seek immediate help from when faced with a threatening situation.
According to the measure, "Safe places can include a variety of locations and professionals such as schools, shopping centers, lifeguards, law enforcement officers, grocery stores, public transit workers, restaurants, social services agencies and non-profit organizations."
The bill calls for the Office of Youth Services to establish a five-year safe-places-for-youth pilot program and to create a network of locations youth can turn to when faced with a crisis, preferably places that are accessible 24 hours a day.
The Keiki Caucus is a bipartisan group made up of 27 House and Senate members who work with more than 150 children and youth advocates, businesses, nonprofit organizations, educators, youths, parent groups and researchers to address issues facing Hawaii’s youth.
The Women’s Legislative Caucus at a separate conference Thursday at the state Capitolannounced a package of bills it supports, including measures that would improve reporting and enforcement of domestic violence and sexual assaults as well as reduce dating violence and sexual assaults on college campuses.
The caucus also supports appropriating $100,000 to the Health Department to expand screening and treatment services for breast and cervical cancer for underserved women.
"(Senate Bill 385’s) modest investment will save suffering, health care costs and lives," Sen. Rosalyn Baker (D, West Maui-South Maui) said in a news release. The measure has a companion bill in the House.
This session marks the 25th anniversary of both the Keiki Caucus and Women’s Legislative Caucus.
