Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Youth Residential Treatment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Neighbors press lawmakers for notice and safety plans for youth residential treatment programs; AG warns of Fair Housing risk
Summary
Residents urged mandatory community notice and safety plans for a small residential program that opened in their neighborhood; the attorney general cautioned that targeted notification requirements for group homes could violate federal Fair Housing and ADA protections, and the committee deferred the bill for further study.
Multiple neighborhood residents described surprise and safety concerns after a residential special-treatment facility for adjudicated or sexually reactive youth began operating in a residential area, and they urged the committee to require written notice and a community safety plan as a condition for DOH contracting.
"When a youth elopes, the program's community safety plan is to call 911," said resident Randy Yim, urging the committee to require detailed protocols and advance notice to neighborhood associations. Several neighbors said they had not received proactive outreach and that the proximity to a school bus route heightened their worry.
The Department of Health said the facility followed licensing and certificate-of-need procedures but acknowledged community frustration about the timing and scope of outreach. Catholic Charities, the contracted provider, did not appear to testify in person.
Deputy Attorney General Michelle Nikata warned the committee that statutory requirements that single out group homes for persons with disabilities for special notice or safety measures may run afoul of the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The AG's testimony said courts have struck down neighbor-notice rules applied only to group homes for people with disabilities.
Given the legal complexity and strong community sentiment, Chair Greg Takayyama deferred HB1530 to allow further legal and policy review and to explore zoning and notice alternatives rather than approving a statutory requirement that could be vulnerable to challenge.
