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One of the most important bills this session that you probably didn’t even know existed of the Senate Human Services and Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs committees on Tuesday.

, Relating to Children and Family of Incarcerated Individuals, is a bill whose policy proposals have actually been in the making for almost 17 years. As strange as that may sound, the wheels of legislation can grind for decades before meaningful action is taken, and when it comes to “invisible” community disparities like the challenges faced by families who have incarcerated loved ones, generations can pass before people even notice something is wrong.

In 2005, the Hawaii Senate created what was then called the Children of Incarcerated Parents Task Force with the assistance of the state Department of Public Safety and Department of Human Services.

By the dawn of the 21st century, lawmakers across the country were becoming painfully aware of the fact that the United States had the highest incarceration rates in the world, and rather than reforming individuals or improving the community, greater incarceration only seemed to amplify existing disparities and social problems.

Many children who have incarcerated parents of dropping out of school or even ending up behind bars themselves. As a result, the Senate wanted to get ahead of the then-emerging crisis and break the pipeline from troubled childhoods or broken families to prison.

Unfortunately, as is often the case with many government initiatives – especially those meant to improve equity or reduce structural violence – departments just couldn’t juggle all of their existing requirements with the additional ask from the Senate. Since then, helping families who have incarcerated loved ones has been dealt with in a piecemeal fashion over the years.

Worse yet, one of the reasons why this continues to be an invisible issue for many is that public sentiment toward incarceration often sees only crime and punishment rather than the view from 30,000 feet, which takes into consideration the wider root causes of social issues.

In short, children who aren’t able to form strong, healthy relationships with their parents can develop long-term problems, and if we don’t address that, we’re just going to be creating another generation of social frustration.

HB 1741, which the House passed unanimously on the floor last month, is unique in that not only does the current draft recognize that children and families face major disparities just from having an incarcerated loved one, but it also notes that bringing children into prison environments for visitation can be deeply traumatic experiences that can harm their parental attachment and overall well-being.

The bill therefore seeks to create a pilot visitation and family resource center at Waiawa Correctional Facility as a means of identifying better, less intimidating ways to bring families and incarcerated loved ones together. If the pilot works, it could be a game changer for incarceration in Hawaii.

While there are some who might callously say, “Who cares about the families of imprisoned criminals?” I say in response that we’d better start caring about them, because if we don’t address this vector for dysfunction, we will never get ahead of the root causes of crime, violence and drug use in Hawaii.

House Vice Speaker John Mizuno, who previously worked on incarceration and youth issues as a former House Human Services chair, said that he appreciates HB 1741, and that “these interactions will benefit a child’s mental state and help keep families intact (and) provide a higher sense of understanding and security for the child.”

This is something of which we should take serious note. This issue would be invisible for anyone not part of the daily Capitol fishbowl.

If I could make a personal recommendation to young people who want to make a difference in Hawaii, it would be to make it a point to find a way to either work as session staff or volunteer for either the House or Senate human services subject matter committees. Those committees see the real side of human frailty and social weakness, and being there can be transformative in providing the kind of understanding we need to improve our society. We need this kind of knowledge to develop the empathy necessary to save Hawaii.

When I was the committee clerk for the House Human Services Committee in 2006, I helped amend and improve the language for , which added additional resources to identify ways to help children of incarcerated parents. For years, I’ve been tracking this issue and been waiting for the day that the Legislature could make good on the recommendations of the original Children of Incarcerated Parents Task Force, and I find it heartwarming that the 2022 Legislature is that much closer to closing the loop.

The question we have to ask ourselves is how much of a better society could we have in Hawaii if we could find a way to restore families, de-stigmatize children who have incarcerated parents and end cycles of hurt and frustration? Isn’t that what “aloha” is really about?