Placing time limits on public housing and revisiting the idea of buying one-way plane tickets to send homeless people back to the mainland are among the ideas lawmakers might consider next year as they search for cost-effective ways to manage the state's growing homeless problem.

The ideas were among those discussed yesterday at a legislative briefing.

Lawmakers heard from public officials dealing with the homeless as well as from advocates, researchers and fraud enforcement officers.

Rep. John Mizuno, House Human Services Committee chairman, said, “;We wanted to identify who the homeless are—how many are from the mainland? How many are (Compact of Free Association) migrants?”;

Mizuno (D, Kalihi) said he was most troubled by the statistic that 25 percent to 30 percent of sheltered homeless who have been in Hawaii less than a year are from the mainland and Micronesia, according to Sylvia Yuen from the University of Hawaii Center on Family.

  UH official: 30 percent of homeless from out of state

 

An expert from the University of Hawaii met with lawmakers and social service providers, who are trying to decide how to fix the drain on the state's homeless resources.

 

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“;That was quite shocking and surprising, but at least it gives us a foundation to work on when looking for solutions,”; Mizuno said.

Mizuno, along with House Housing Chairwoman Rida Cabanilla, said they are seeking solutions that do not include throwing money at the problem.

Both said they had concerns over federal provisions that grant broad rights for those staying in public housing.

“;So if I live in public housing ... say I get a job and everything's going fine so I can get out of the system, I can give my rights to my son or daughter,”; Mizuno said. “;That's shocking because then you have generation upon generation that's living in the same public housing unit.”;

Mizuno said he plans to discuss options with federal Housing and Urban Development officials to see if it is possible to place stricter limits on federal assistance to better serve the roughly 10,000 people on a waiting list for public housing.

Connie Mitchell, executive director of the Institute for Human Services, said she hopes lawmakers examine programs and proposals that help homeless become self-sufficient.

“;I think the legislators are really taking this problem seriously, and they really want to find solutions,”; she said.