HI HCR181

Requests the Hawaii Judiciary to establish a working group to review and improve the current family court juvenile justice model with focus on alternatives to incarceration, rehabilitation effectiveness, and recidivism reduction.

Working group membership includes the senior family court judge of the First Judicial Circuit (chair), a neighbor island family court judge, representatives from the Department of Human Services, Department of Education, and Honolulu Police Department.

Invites participation from Native Hawaiian and Micronesian community representatives and nonprofit youth organizations including Kokua Kalihi Valley, Kalihi-Palama Health Center, and the Kauai Resilience Project.

Directs the working group to study juvenile justice interactions with the state system, evaluate current models, examine restorative justice approaches used in New Zealand and other jurisdictions, and assess alternative law enforcement responses to youth offenses.

Working group must submit findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the start of the 2023 Regular Session and ceases to exist on June 30, 2023.