Keiki Caucus

The Legislative Keiki Caucus was formed at the State Legislature in 1994 and is comprised of bipartisan House and Senate Members.  A community resource group of children, youth advocates and providers join the Keiki Caucus in working on issues to help children in Hawaii.  Legislation introduced through the Keiki caucus addresses a variety of issues affecting Hawai`i's children.  Bills on education, health, child safety, substance abuse, youth obesity, child welfare, and youth development are in the Keiki Caucus Legislative package.    Here few samples of Bills from this year's Keiki Caucus and the policy decisions behind those concerns.  These bills address cyberbullying, health and unattended children:

• The legislature finds that there is a growing body of research on the prevalence of school bullying, the likelihood of school bullies to develop anti-social behavior and the effects of bullying on victims and on school climates.  Further, the Legislature finds that ubiquitous technology has given rise to cyberbullying which is used by students with greater frequency in lieu of traditional schoolyard bullying.  Accordingly, the legislature has proposed House Bill 532 to require the Department of Education to adopt rules to reduce and prevent school bullying and cyberbullying.
   
  
• Unhealthy eating and lack of physical activity has led to an increase in obesity and other chronic disease among our Hawaii students.    In an effort to combat this trend, the Department of Health has issued a plan whose purpose is to provide a framework for policy makers and public and private organizations to work together to educate, implement interventions, advocate for policies and build environments that integrate physical activity and healthy eating into students' daily lives.
  In January 2008, public schools launched a 3-year plan using "wellness guidelines" that list strict nutritional standards for food and drinks available. The guidelines include banning food and beverages if the first ingredient is sugar.   To increase physical activity, the plan's guidelines recommend at least 20 minutes of supervised recess during the school day.  To help to implement these recommendations and encourage physical activity, the Legislature has put forth a joint resolution that the Board of Education provide credits toward graduation for those students participating in extracurricular sports. 
   
  
• The legislature finds that leaving children unattended in vehicles oftentimes ends with tragic consequences.  Parents and caregivers understand the risks involved with leaving children at home alone and unattended, but unfortunately a few do not understand what is at stake when they leave children unsupervised in vehicles. Many children come to harm due to excessive exposure to heat, or even unintentional mishaps where a child manages to release the emergency brake or puts the car in gear. Legislation to prevent infants and young children from being left unattended in vehicles has strong support from Keiki Caucus Members and early childhood advocates.   

Representative Cynthia Thielen • State Capitol, Room 443 • 415 South Beretania Street • Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 • Phone: (808) 586-6480