ASSOCIATION OF HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUBS
A RESOLUTION
NO. 2020 – 37
SUPPORTING EXPUNGEMENT OF RECORDS FOR VIOLATIONS RELATING TO HOUSELESSNESS
WHEREAS, since the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, Native Hawaiians have faced significant challenges across many aspects of life in Hawaiʻi, one of which is access to housing; and
WHEREAS, houselessness is a significant issue plaguing Hawaiʻi, and Native Hawaiians are disproportionately represented in the state’s houseless population; and
WHEREAS, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development reported in its 2015 Homeless Populations and Subpopulations report that Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders comprise about 39% of the statewide houseless population; and
WHEREAS, the 2019 Partners in Care Point in Time Count of houseless individuals found that Native Hawaiians encompass about 43% of Oʻahu’s houseless population, but only 19% of Oʻahu’s general population; and
WHEREAS, as the cost of living continues to rise in Hawaiʻi and the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the local economy, the number of houseless Native Hawaiians may continue to rise, as well as the number of Native Hawaiians who are criminalized as a result of their houselessness; and
WHEREAS, houseless Native Hawaiians face criminal punishment for offenses such as being in a park after hours and obstructing a sidewalk, and may accumulate substantial criminal records resulting from their houselessness; and
WHEREAS, criminal records present barriers to obtaining housing, employment, and critical services, further constraining houseless Native Hawaiians from achieving housing stability and exacerbating our state’s houselessness crisis; and
WHEREAS, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ 2021will introduce a legislative proposal would seek to mitigate the long-lasting impacts of the criminalization of people experiencing houselessness, by allowing for the expungement of arrest and conviction records for non-violent offenses substantially related to a person’s houseless status.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its 61st Annual Convention held online, in the malama of Makali‘i and the rising of ʻOlekūkolu, this 22nd day of November 2020, supporting the expungement of records for violations relating to houselessness; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Native Hawaiian Bar Association, as well as the Governor of the State of Hawaiʻi, President of the State Senate, Speaker of the State House of Representatives, Chair of the State Senate subject matter committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the State House subject matter committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and all County Mayors.
The undersigned herby certifies that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted in the malama of Makaliʻi and the rising of ʻOlekūkolu on the 22nd day of November 2020, at the 61st Annual Convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs held online.
Hailama V.K.K. Farden, President
