Social Services In Hawaii

The homeless population in Hawaii seems to be growing every day

. It's not unusual to walk down the streets of Honolulu and see people pushing grocery carts that hold all their worldly possessions. Homeless people sometimes try to sleep in local parks. However, for the past decade or so public parks have been closed from late at night until early in the morning.

Small tent cities have sprung up in different neighborhoods. For the most part after a month or two most of these enclaves have been "busted" by the police and the homeless have been disbursed.

There are social services programs in Hawaii that try to help the homeless. Social services are organized private and public programs that are designed to better human welfare. Social service programs include those related to housing, food, job training, income support, child care, health care, protection from violence, and supportive interventions.

The majority of social services target needy adults and children, the elderly, people with disabilities and the more vulnerable segments of our population. Although faith-based and charitable organizations in a lot of communities offer supportive services they usually are not large enough, don't have the financial wherewithal or the ability to provide enough services and benefits for everyone in need.

These organizations also don't have the legal responsibility to protect the rights of citizens. That's traditionally been the responsibility of our government, but that is changing.

The Aid to Families with Dependent Children entitlement program began in 1935. It was changed to a block grant program in 1996. Now it has a 5 year lifetime limit for any of its recipients.

Congress ruled that welfare recipients should get off of welfare and find work, without any regard to the individual's circumstances or with respect to their ability to find work. Hawaii has tried to adapt to these changes. Since 1996 Hawaii has been very flexible in designing the state's welfare programs. It is now a local decision as to who is eligible for what.

However, this approach has come with dramatic changes in the way that social services are provided. The state of Hawaii now contracts with nonprofit organizations and corporations for what was previously considered to be core governmental services. Now eligibility, childcare, counseling, IT, and job training are all subcontracted.

Unfortunately, this has not solved the problem. Homelessness has increased, unemployment has increased, more families are finding more challenges keeping a roof over their heads, and more people are applying for food stamps. Meanwhile, the state is broke and federal dollars are drying up.

Although social service programs have never been really well coordinated in Hawaii they have become even more fragmented. They are not meeting the needs of this segment of our society.

by: Wendy Moyer

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