Testimony on HB1/SB1

In support of dollars for food and shelter assistance

House of Representatives
The Senate
The Twenty-First Legislature
Third Special Session of 2001

Bill No. HB1/SB1, RELATING TO SOCIAL WELFARE.
Hearing date: October 23, 2001, 10:00 a.m.
Auditorium, State Capitol

Testimony of Susan Au Doyle, co-chair, Hawaii Together

Summary of Points:

Recommendations of Hawaii Together are based on:

1. Input from individuals and providers on the nature and priority of needs;
2. Input and discussion by experts in private sector programs and services, government programs and procurement, and philanthropy;
3. Input from representatives of each of the county mayors, United Ways in all counties, food banks, and individuals and providers that participate as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Food and Shelter Program that provides individuals with non-disaster emergency food and shelter assistance;
4. Statistics provided by nonprofit sector and state and federal government agencies, including the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development;
5. Hawaii experience with a population similar to those most urgently needing help;
6. National systems experience of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in providing food and shelter assistance in local communities for non-disaster emergencies; and
7. Consideration and comparison of various possible mechanisms to distribute emergency food and shelter assistance that might be provided, including currently-existing programs and infrastructure in both the public and private sectors.

Based on this input and experience, our conclusions are that:

1. There is an urgent need for emergency food and shelter assistance to individuals who have become unemployed or have lost wages or hours as a result of the economic downturn due to the September 11 attacks.
2. There is a gap in existing services and supports for this gap group; however, it is the group on whom economic revitalization rests, as it is the most likely to be able to return to work and self-sufficiency as jobs become available. It is imperative that we stabilize their situations and prevent those with housing from becoming homeless.
3. Interim state funding is needed immediately for these purposes; however, the amount that will be needed to respond to the emergent food and shelter needs in the next six months will likely be greater than amounts that can be provided by the state. (The estimated need is $800,000 for food and $5 million for shelter). Other resources will also be needed to meet the need.
4. Any amount of state funding would be helpful; however, amounts larger than those proposed in the bill would be more helpful.
5. The existing Emergency Food and Shelter Program infrastructure created by FEMA would be the fastest, most efficient and effective distribution mechanism to use to help individuals in all counties in the state.

There may be other mechanisms for accomplishing these purposes; for instance, appropriating a sum of dollars to the governor and allowing him to work with the county mayors to allocate and distribute those funds appropriately among the counties. However, given our assessment of all of the information available, our considered recommendation is to build on current systems and assets to address the urgent need for food and shelter and get help to people without further delays. This recommendation is made by a community task group asked by the Governor to take action and to make just these kinds of recommendations to decision-makers throughout the state.

We respectfully request your serious consideration of our input, and strongly encourage your support of additional funds for emergency food and shelter assistance.

Testimony of Susan Au Doyle, co-chair, Hawaii Together

The Honorable Brian Taniguchi, Chair, Committee on Ways and Means, The Honorable Dwight Takamine, Chair, Committee on Finance, and Members of the Committees:

I am Susan Au Doyle, volunteer co-chair of Hawaii Together, a task force appointed by Governor Cayetano to pull the statewide community together to address the human welfare issues arising out of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the subsequent economic downturn in Hawaii. I am also employed as the Vice President for Community Building of the Aloha United Way.
The Hawaii Together task force comprises approximately 40 individuals from a broad cross-section of the statewide community, providing broad coverage in terms of geography, people and services. This composition provides linkages to information and resources from all sectors-county, state and federal government, philanthropy, business, faith-based organizations, education, and not-for-profit providers. The committee has organized and is actively working to gather information regarding the immediate people needs that have arisen throughout the state and to work with government and other service providers to respond flexibly and quickly to meet these needs.
Based on information available to us at the present time, we know that the September 11th attacks, on-going war, and current economic conditions have increased the demand for health and human services across our whole safety net, and will continue to do so for some time. When looking at our whole system of health and human services and taking into perspective our primary strategies for economic and social revitalization, we see that there is a need for additional support to strengthen the safety net in the areas of food and shelter, child care, mental health and primary health care, particularly for those whose income has been negatively affected by the economic downturn.
While we know that there were already people whose welfare was already at risk prior to September 11, it is clear that the economic downturn has added to their ranks individuals and the families of individuals who have suddenly become unemployed or are "underemployed," meaning that they have had reductions in their wages or work hours. Our immediate economic recovery rests on these newly-at-risk people, because we know they have already developed job skills and are both willing and able to work.
A key focus in Hawaii Together is to keep these individuals from falling into abject poverty by supporting them and helping them to be fed and to retain their current housing while they search for other work. If these individuals and families become homeless, they will exacerbate the problems we are facing by joining the long lines of those whom our existing shelter programs and services are already unable to help.
The most urgent need today is for emergency food and shelter. This emergency assistance is needed to help stabilize the situations of the individuals and families I have just described. If we can also do it with the current bill, we should also assure that children in childcare can remain there while their parents seek to return to work.
The four county food banks estimate that demand has increased by 60% in the period subsequent to the September 11 attacks. For instance, at the Hawaii Foodbank on Oahu, 20,000 pounds were being distributed each day prior to September 11th; the number today is 32,000 pounds. This has resulted in a rapid reduction in the typical 30-day reserves maintained to a reserve of 20 days. In addition, stocks of more substantial foods such as meat, other protein and rice have been depleted.
While the state's four county food banks are conducting with community partners on-going drives for donated food, they estimate that they will need $800,000 in cash over the next six months to make bulk purchases to supplement what they receive in donations. This is both because of the increased demand and because of the need to balance nutritionally the supply of food they make available to the state's 400-plus food pantries.
Regarding shelter, the experience of the state's existing Emergency Food and Shelter Program ("EFSP") of the Federal Emergency Management Agency ("FEMA") gives us the best information available for determining what it will take to keep our population of newly unemployed and underemployed from losing their homes. We have calculated a need for shelter assistance over the next five months at approximately $5 million.
This estimate is based on the five-month utilization rate for EFSP shelter dollars on Oahu, the number of unemployed by county, the rise in unemployment rates by county provided by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, and the average EFS Program dollar subsidy relative to fair market rental rates in each county provided by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The estimate also takes into consideration the fact that unemployment statistics do not take into account the significant numbers of underemployed, and the likelihood that anyone seeking a job in today's weak market may need more than one month in which to return to self-sufficiency.
The infrastructure used by the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program is a proven mechanism for preventing hunger and homelessness and should be used to get emergency food and shelter assistance to individuals statewide. The Emergency Food and Shelter Program was established in 1983 and is administered and monitored locally by community boards in each county. The collaborative federal program is designed to minimize paperwork and bureaucracy and help communities help themselves. The program distributes funds to help local agencies feed the hungry, shelter the homeless and prevent hunger and homelessness. The target population is people facing non-disaster emergencies, precisely those we are trying to help with the proposed bills.
Each county in the state has a local board whose membership mirrors the National Board. These local boards assess their local county's situation and determine how to distribute EFSP funds in their various communities. The EFSP National Board has representatives from the Salvation Army, American Red Cross, Catholic Charities USA, Council of Jewish Federations, the United Way of America, and the National Council of Churches.
With the support of the state's local United Ways, the four local boards administer the program and monitor program compliance. In early 2001, the local boards advertised the availability of funds, established local priorities, and selected the agencies to receive EFSP funding. were selected to receive and distribute EFSP funds. The Oahu Emergency Food and Shelter Program Board for Oahu, which is administratively supported by the Aloha United Way, is also designated by the federal program as the statewide board for the purposes of administering State Set Aside dollars. Those were the dollars that funded the county of Maui's program this year.
Hawaii Together recommends strongly that state funding for emergency food and shelter be provided to the more than 50 agencies selected by their local boards and currently authorized to receive federal dollars provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Food and Shelter Program. The existing system includes 16 agencies on Oahu, 10 agencies on the island of Hawaii, six agencies on Kauai, and 18 agencies on Maui, plus the four county food banks. With 50-plus agencies currently selected and operating, this is the largest, most geographically distributed, locally-informed system for distributing emergency food and shelter dollars currently existing in the state. State funds would be used, just as FEMA funds are used now, to provide emergency dollars to individuals to help prevent hunger and homelessness.
The only additional requirement Hawaii Together recommends is that individuals be allowed to access these dollars more than once per year. Given the current weak job market, it would be reasonable to assume that an individual might take more than one month to find new or additional work needed to return to self-sufficiency. Otherwise, agency workers in the FEMA-authorized agencies are skilled at determining the extent of need, so that the minimum of dollars needed for the individual's emergency are expended. The agencies are also able to help individuals access whatever other financial assistance they may be eligible to receive and to link them with other help they may need to get back on their feet.
Although the Aloha United Way (which supports Oahu's FEMA program) and others are urging the Congressional delegation and the national FEMA EFSP board to provide additional funds to Hawaii, prospects for additional federal dollars in the near future are weak. Immediate local action is needed to provide interim assistance, as the over $700,000 in FEMA funding for emergency food and shelter for 2001 was exhausted within six months in all counties.
It should be noted that Hawaii Together is not suggesting that government alone can meet our current crisis. On the contrary, we believe that we all-in all of our sectors and in every community however we want to characterize them-must come together and pool our resources and talents in new ways.
We must be willing to trust each other's intentions and do things differently than we may have been allowed to do before. Those of us with the power and authority to act on behalf of our community must act decisively and wholly with a community spirit. This is not a time for politics, faint hearts and allegations of ill intent. This is a time for having the strength of spirit to work together, offer our resources and trust one another.
The simple fact is that our existing safety net of services does not have the capacity to meet the growing demand without additional resources. The nonprofit organizations that are the primary providers of safety net services are only marginally capitalized, primarily through a mix of government and private philanthropic dollars. The sector had fragile financial capacity, even in pre-September 11th times. State government is an important resource for bolstering the system of health and human services; however, it is not the only one, and members of Hawaii Together are working hard to seek additional resources.
Detailed background information and drafts of bills that would quickly implement the strategy Hawaii Together has researched and developed have been provided to representatives of the Administration, The Senate and the House of Representatives.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this bill. While we believe that the current need for immediate emergency food and shelter assistance is significantly higher than the amounts that would be provided by the bill as introduced and that the existing FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program infrastructure would be the most effective way to get help to individuals immediately, we certainly support House Bill No. 1/Senate Bill No. 1 in concept.
I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.