On October 16, 2015, Governor David Ige signed an emergency proclamation related to homelessness for the purpose of establishing temporary shelter and facilitating contracting with private providers of homeless services. On October 26, 2015, Governor Ige issued a supplemental proclamation to expand the purpose of the October 16, 2015 proclamation to include “all efforts necessary to respond to the current homeless emergency in the State of Hawaii, including, if necessary, property restoration efforts, provided further that to the greatest extent practicable and where possible, state agencies will endeavor to include a coordinated response among participating state, county, and private agencies that include: a. Establishing and maintaining good relationships with the homeless population; b. Educating the homeless population and providers of service to the homeless; c. Assisting with providing services, training, and opportunities to the homeless population; and d. Employing relocation efforts.” Additional supplemental proclamations were issued to apply the emergency powers of the proclamation to specific projects to address homelessness in the City and County of Honolulu, County of Kauai, County of Maui, and County of Hawaii. By law, the Governor may issue an emergency proclamation for no longer than 60 days, but may issue supplementary proclamations to extend the proclamation period for additional 60 day periods. The original October 16, 2015 emergency proclamation and supplemental proclamations are available below.
A list of projects that were completed and expedited with the assist of the emergency and supplemental proclamations is provided below.
The following slides illustrate the initial impact of the emergency proclamations to address homelessness on services to place homeless individuals and households into homes, as well as services to strengthen coordination to address homeless encampments in public spaces such as Kakaako Makai.
On December 6, 2018, Governor Ige issued a new emergency proclamation related to homelessness “for the purposes of establishing a long-term housing, temporary shelter, services to divert homeless individuals from frequent utilization of the healthcare and criminal justice systems, and to facilitate contracting for these programs, housing, shelter, and services; provided that housing and shelter units made available under this Proclamation shall be safe, sanitary, and suitable for human habitation.” Governor Ige issued aadditional supplemental proclamations to continue the state of emergency. The original December 6, 2018 emergency proclamation and all supplemental proclamation are available below.