Sombody Elses Problem?

[bigtree]

. . . or, a free trip back from Hawaii?


Hawaii Offers Homeless One-Way Tickets . . . back 'home'

____The Aloha State is offering one-way plane tickets to volunteers to ship them back to the mainland. The "return to home" pilot program, which will be run by the Department of Human Services, is a three-year endeavor that will launch this fiscal year. The state legislature has approved spending $100,000 in the first year. The state, which has an estimated 17,000 homeless, expects to save money even if some people return. To be eligible for the program individuals have to have a support system in their home state and not be able to afford the airfare on their own . . .


Under a "return to home" three-year pilot program set to launch this fiscal year, the state will buy one-way tickets on planes — and possible even beds on cruise ships — to return eligible homeless people to their families in the continental U.S.

Lawmakers have appropriated an initial $100,000 to fund the program, which will be run by the state Department of Human Services.

The department has expressed concerns about the program's cost and the nature of services to be provided, among other issues.

"The administrative requirements ... are costly and administratively burdensome," department spokeswoman Kayla Rosenfeld said Tuesday in a statement to MSN News. "Provisions include: transportation to the airport, orientation regarding airport security and ensuring proper hygiene. Additionally, if state funds were utilized for the purpose of sending people home, the participants would be required to sign voluntary departure agreements that would need to be recorded in databases. Given these requirements and others, and a minimal appropriation of $100,000 for a three-year pilot project, providers are understandably reluctant to take on a state-funded return to home program."

"The DHS will continue to dialogue with the community around these issues. At the end of the day, however, we remain concerned this program is an invitation to purchase a one-way ticket to Hawaii with a guaranteed return flight home," Rosenfeld said.


read: http://news.msn.com/us/hawaii-offers-homeless-one-way-ticket-off-islands#tscptmt

[corkhead]

1. If Hawaii was a red state, they would instead contract Halliburton to build a Soilent Green Factory