Written testimony received 04/10/2023

Aloha Council Members,
My name is Melanie Padgett and I am the supervisor at the Maui County Early Childhood Resource Center (MCECRC), which is a program of Maui Family Support Services, Inc. (MFSS). I would like to thank you for supporting Maui County families by providing funding for the Early Childhood programs, specifically the Early Childhood Resource Center & Subsidies Grant and the Early Childhood Family Literacy Grant. The Maui County Early Childhood Resource Center provides Resource and Referral Services to more than 300 families of young children each year. The families we serve are all struggling to make ends meet as the cost-of-living rises. The biggest need clients of the Center have is for financial aid for quality childcare so that parents are able to work or continue their educations. MCECRC staff members assist parents to apply and qualify for the federal, state and private childcare subsidies they are eligible for. If families need for childcare aid cannot be met by the federal, state or private subsidies, they are guided to apply for the County of Maui Child Care Subsidies. In FY 23, approximately 120 children will receive childcare subsidy provided by the County of Maui to attend Preschools, Infant/Toddler Centers, and licensed family childcare homes in all areas of Maui Nui. Please note that while 120 children are approved for the County of Maui Subsidies, a further 200 plus children were helped to qualify for other subsidy programs in FY23.
With most parents in Maui County needing to work fulltime, it is necessary to build the capacity of high quality, licensed childcare programs, so all children needing care can be accommodated. Maui County Early Childhood Resource Center, in collaboration with Early Childhood Coordinator, Ka’ina Bonacorsi, convenes community partners to meet and develop strategies for growing the early childhood workforce. We encourage professional development for EC workers by offering scholarships for registration fees for conferences and trainings. MCECRC partners with PATCH to promote accreditation pathways to childcare providers with the goal of improving the quality of childcare across Maui County.
While MCECRC supports families by helping them to access childcare, we also seek to strengthen parents as their child’s first teacher by providing high quality children’s books to families through the Reach Out and Read Program. In FY23 we partnered with pediatricians at 4 Maui health clinics, and are currently onboarding 3 new clinics on Lanai, Molokai and in Hana, to give 8000 books to children ages birth to 5 during their well baby/child visits. We launched an online early childhood library for childcare providers and home visitors to enrich the literacy activities for the children in their care.

Thank you for your continued support of the Maui County Child Care Resource Center and the families and childcare providers we serve. I invite you to stop by and visit the Center which is located at 2099 Wells St. Wailuku.

Melanie Padgett
808-242-1608, mauiecrc@gmail.com

Aloha Maui County Council,
My name is Dr. Judy Aikawa. I am Vice-Chair of the Maui Humane Society Board of Directors. As a Board Member for the last 13 ½ years, I’ve had the privilege of watching the organization evolve into a truly extraordinary nonprofit which not only cares for almost 5,000 homeless and abandoned animals a year, but also supports the approximately 110,000 residents of Maui who are pet owners.
I want to begin my written testimony by thanking the Council for your longstanding support of Maui Humane Society. MHS has provided animal management services to the County of Maui for the past 36 years. We are proud of our partnership with the County and feel that our shared commitment has resulted in profound and positive impacts on the lives of both animals and humans and enhanced the human-animal bond which is essential to the emotional well-being and resilience of our community.
We are pleased that Mayor Bissen’s budget has addressed funding for Humane Enforcement, animal sheltering and spay/neuter and we hope that the Council will approve the amounts included in the Mayor’s budget. The one area that we feel merits additional funding support is MHS’s efforts to lend a helping hand to the Island of Molokai by providing both sheltering and humane enforcement services to that community which needs help desperately. We hope the Council will vote to provide the additional funding required to meet Molokai’s animal welfare needs.
Thank you for the opportunity to send written testimony--I am currently visiting on the mainland and unable to testify in-person.
Sincerely,
Judith Aikawa, MD
Kula, Hawaii