Hawaii's Homeless Population: Case Study

There are numerous efforts to address Hawaii’s homeless population, specifically –and significantly – with government agencies and in policies. The following are a couple of interviews conducted with professionals from organizations (The Homeless Program Office and Legal Aid) that deals with homelessness, and then followed by a few of the newly introduced bills at the National and State level.
Lori Tsuhako of the Homeless Program Office and
The Homeless Programs Office (HPO) is an administrative office within the Department of Human Services’ Benefits, Employment and Support Service (BESSD). The HPO is purely an administrative office, which means that they do not direct social workers or mandate interventions to the homeless population. In addition, the organization is obligated and …show more content…
Introduced in June 2014, the purpose of the Sit-Lie Ban is to prohibit persons from sitting or lying on public sidewalks in the Waikiki district. And over the years following its introduction, the Sit-Lie Ban has spread to other districts and areas across Oahu. Peter suggests that the Sit-Lie law does not seem to be a resolution to the Homeless issue on Oahu. He mentioned that all the law really does is displace the Homeless population from where they currently are and moves them from one place to another, disrupting their lives, and he emphasizes deeply that it is not a way to solve the Homelessness issue. Mr. Peter stated that Legal Aid continually struggles to deal with the Homelessness issue under the Sit-Lie Bill because when Homeless people are moved from state property, their stuff is taken and thrown away and in return, they seek Legal Aid for services that they require for replacement of their belongings, general knowledge of where they can reside, and government services that they can access (i.e. Homeless