The Sex Abuse Treatment Center’s 2018 Legislative Agenda

SATC is advocating for a number of measures during the 2018 Hawai‘i State Legislative Session.  Following are some of the key pieces of legislation that SATC is supporting:
 

• Establishment and implementation of a program in the Department of Education to educate public school students on sexual abuse prevention through age appropriate curricula, provide training to school teachers and staff, and inform parents about important sexual abuse topics, and to report on the status of implementation to the Legislature on a yearly basis.
   
• Legislation clarifying that health insurers must provide coverage for clinical victim support services, a mental health outpatient service.  Survivors can require assistance accessing resources, coordinating care, and addressing safety and reasonable accommodations with employers, schools and other entities, but insurers have historically chosen not to cover these services.  Coverage would resolve this service gap and increase overall access to mental health services for survivors of sexual violence.
   
• An extension of the civil statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse.  The current law prevents victims from being able to seek justice as many do not disclose their abuse or are prevented from seeking justice until after statute of limitations expires.  This bill would bring the statute of limitations in line with the reality of disclosing and seeking justice for survivors of child sexual abuse.