HI HR114

Requests Governor to invest in preventative health care and mental health wellness interventions that incorporate Native Hawaiian cultural practices to reduce children's exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)

Establishes that ACEs include physical/emotional/sexual abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction (substance abuse, untreated mental illness, incarceration, domestic violence, separation/divorce)

Cites 1998 CDC study showing individuals with 4+ ACEs experience significantly higher risks: 12.2 times more likely to attempt suicide, 10.3 times more likely to use injection drugs, 7.4 times more likely to become alcoholic, and 46 times more likely to have learning or emotional problems

Notes that individuals with 6+ ACEs have life expectancy 20 years shorter than those with no ACEs; women with 7+ ACEs are 5.5 times more likely to become pregnant as teenagers

Urges Governor to consider brain development principles, toxic stress concepts, buffering relationships, early intervention, and culture and land-based programs when developing state policy strategies