Committee approves two-year family resilience pilot using peer navigators, with up to five specialists serving up to 80 families

Lawmakers approved SB 3204 SD1 to establish a family-resilience pilot using trauma-informed peer navigators, amending the pilot to run two years rather than one and to allow the program to serve up to 80 families with five peer support specialists.

Naomi Liko of the Office of Wellness and Resilience said the office stands on its written testimony and asked that the pilot be extended to two years to develop policies and collect outcome data. She explained the figure of five peer support specialists serving up to 80 families was based on a capacity calculation tied to the initially proposed funding level.

A committee member pressed for details about scalability and neighbor-island coverage; Liko said the program could pilot in one or two geographic areas and partner with community-based organizations to test the model before statewide scaling. The office noted the originally proposed funding amount was $600,000 in TANF funds; the Chair instructed staff to note that amount in the committee report.

The committee adopted technical and clarifying amendments, changed the repeal/ending date to match a two-year pilot (2028), adjusted language from exactly 80 families to “up to 80 families,” and passed the bill with amendments.