Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 6, 1 June 2013 — Aloha mai kākou, [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Aloha mai kākou,

\ative Hawaiian families getting assistance from the government got a needed shot in the arm when Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed House Bill 868 in late April. Until now, families getting assistance under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program would be disqualified from the program if they had more than $5,000 in assets. But you can't teach people getting assistance how to budget and save money for a rainy day if the program is making them spend their money so they ean eonhnue to get help. The new law will help develop asset-building programs and fight poverty to help people move toward eeonomie self-sufficiency. The law is one example of how the Office of Hawaiian Affairs empowers Hawaiians while strengthening all of Hawai'i. 'Auli'i George, one of OHA' s puhlie policy advocates, was looking for ways to strengthen the eeonomie self-sufficiency of Native Hawaiians. According to the Department of Human Services, 38 percent of people getting temporary assistance are Native Hawaiians. In studying this, she found that other states had gotten rid of the asset limits with positive results. Needy families were being helped, and the states actually saw cost savings by having lower administrative costs. Last year, we made a bill to increase the asset limit to $15,000 a part of the paekage of bills we sent to the Legislature. The bill sought to provide an opportunity for families to save. Though it didn't pass last year, the Govemor made a similar bill a part of his package this year. We worked with other advocacy groups and the bill, whieh eliminates the asset limit altogether, was easily approved by the Legislature. So while we were fighting to empower Hawaiians, this new law benefits all of

Hawai'i. After all, 62 percent of the people who are on the program are not Hawaiian. In solving problems for Hawaiians, everyone benefits. In April, OHA launched two new tools. The Kīpuka Database uses the latest mapping technology to provide a window into Native Hawaiian land, culture and history. With a eliek of a mouse, you ean find information on traditional land divisions, land awards and historic sites. Kamako'i is a cutting-edge tool to leam about and take aehon on important issues. While both resources were developed with Native Hawai- . iU ians in mind, the information there is puhlie and ean be

valuable to a lot of people, saving them time and resources and making our entire community stron- . j ger and more empowered. In the coming month and years, OHA will eontinue to strive to make the lives of Native Hawaiians better and in so doing, our entire community, Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians alike, will benefit. 'O au iho nō me ke aloha a me ka 'oia'i'o, /a.. c*JLA>~c Kamana'opono M. Crabbe, Ph.D. Ka Pouhana/Chief Executive 0fficer

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EM POWERI NG H AWAI I ANS, STRENGTHENING HAWAI'I