Hawaii renamed its corrections agency on January 1, 2024. What was the Department of Public Safety is now the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation -- the name change reflects a deliberate shift toward what the department calls a "rehabilitative, restorative, and reentry focused system." That reorientation has included building out the ID program that a 2017 state law required but that took years to fully implement.
As of 2021, half of the people leaving Hawaii's prisons still did not have a state ID card on their release day. The department acknowledged the gap and worked to close it -- establishing agreements with the Department of Transportation and Honolulu's Department of Customer Service to use a mobile unit to photograph inmates inside facilities and generate state ID cards before release.
Hawaii also secured a Medicaid reentry waiver approved by CMS on January 8, 2025. That waiver allows Hawaii's Medicaid program -- Med-QUEST -- to begin providing services up to 90 days before release for eligible incarcerated individuals. Hawaii expanded Medicaid. Your healthcare coverage can be in place before you leave.
Here is what the system now provides and what you need to do.
What Hawaii DCR Provides at Release
Hawaii law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide state identification to releasing inmates. The DCR worked with the Department of Transportation and the Honolulu Department of Customer Service to implement a process in which a mobile unit photographs eligible inmates inside the facility and transmits the information to generate a state ID card.
Ask your case manager or transitional services coordinator whether your state ID has been processed through this program. If you are within six months of release and this has not been started, request it immediately.
Hawaii's geography creates a unique complication. A significant portion of Hawaii's incarcerated population is housed in correctional facilities on the mainland United States -- contracted facilities in states including Oklahoma and Arizona -- because of Hawaii's limited in-state capacity. If you are held on the mainland, confirm with your Hawaii DCR case manager specifically how the ID process works for people releasing from out-of-state facilities and whether ID can be arranged before your return to Hawaii.
Getting Your Hawaii State ID After Release
If you release without a state ID, apply at any Hawaii Department of Transportation (DOT) Highways Division Driver Licensing office or at a Honolulu Department of Customer Service location. Find locations at hidot.hawaii.gov or at honolulu.gov.
To obtain a Hawaii state ID or driver's license, you will need documents establishing your identity, Social Security number, and Hawaii residency. Your DCR release documentation serves as a supporting identity document. Standard ID fees apply for applications processed outside the DCR mobile unit program.
Getting Your Social Security Card
If you do not have your Social Security card at release, contact the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213, apply online at ssa.gov, or visit your nearest SSA office. Replacement cards are free. Bring your state ID and birth certificate.
Ask your case manager whether your facility had a prerelease agreement with SSA, which allows the card replacement and benefit application process to be initiated up to 90 days before your scheduled release.
Getting Your Birth Certificate
If you were born in Hawaii, request a certified copy from the Hawaii Department of Health Vital Records Section at health.hawaii.gov or by calling (808) 586-4533. Fees are currently $10 per certified copy.
If you were born on the mainland or in another country, contact the relevant vital records office. If you were born in another U.S. state, your DCR case manager can help identify the correct contact.
Med-QUEST: Medicaid
Hawaii expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Hawaii's Medicaid program is called Med-QUEST and is administered by the Hawaii Department of Human Services (DHS), Med-QUEST Division. Low-income adults in Hawaii -- including people releasing from prison -- are generally eligible for Med-QUEST if they meet income requirements.
Hawaii received CMS approval on January 8, 2025 for a Medicaid Section 1115 Reentry Demonstration Waiver. Under this waiver, Med-QUEST can provide a targeted set of services for eligible incarcerated individuals for up to 90 days before their expected release date. The waiver includes an explicit health equity commitment to advancing access for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander people, who are overrepresented in Hawaii's incarcerated population.
Ask your DCR case manager or transitional services coordinator whether pre-release Med-QUEST enrollment or services have been initiated under the reentry waiver. If your facility is participating in the reentry demonstration initiative, healthcare services and care coordination should be available to you in the months before your release.
After release, apply for Med-QUEST through the Hawaii DHS PAIS portal at pais.dhs.hawaii.gov, by phone at 1-800-316-8005, or in person at your local DHS benefits office. Bring your state ID, Social Security card, and proof of Hawaii residency.
SNAP: Food Assistance
Hawaii's SNAP program is administered by the DHS Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division (BESSD). Apply through the PAIS portal at pais.dhs.hawaii.gov or at your local DHS office.
Hawaii does not impose a lifetime ban on SNAP for people with felony drug convictions. However, Hawaii does impose SNAP restrictions for people on probation -- similar to the restriction in Alaska. If you are releasing to probation supervision, confirm your SNAP eligibility with your probation officer before applying.
If you are not on probation, you are generally eligible to apply for SNAP immediately after release if you meet income and residency requirements. SNAP benefits are typically issued on an EBT card within 30 days. Expedited SNAP for households with urgent need can be issued within 7 calendar days.
For a single interview, Hawaii allows you to apply for both SNAP and financial assistance at the same time.
SSI and SSDI
SSI (Supplemental Security Income) and SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) are federal programs available if you have a qualifying disability.
SSI payments are suspended after one full calendar month of incarceration. If you were incarcerated for less than 12 consecutive months, SSI can be reinstated the month you are released -- contact SSA immediately with your release documents. If incarcerated 12 or more consecutive months, file a new application.
SSDI payments are suspended after 30 continuous days of incarceration following conviction. Contact SSA upon release for reinstatement.
Med-QUEST eligibility and SSI eligibility are linked in Hawaii. Notify DHS and SSA on the same day when you apply for one.
Veterans Benefits
If you served in the U.S. military, the Hawaii Office of Veterans Services (OVS) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs provide benefits after release. Contact OVS at hawaii.gov/ovs or the nearest VA facility.
Hawaii has a VA Pacific Islands Health Care System (VAPIHCS) with a main campus in Honolulu and community-based outpatient clinics on Maui, Kauai, Hawaii Island, and American Samoa. The VA Healthcare for Re-Entry Veterans (HCRV) program provides transitional case management for veterans leaving incarceration. VA benefits suspended during incarceration can be reinstated after release -- notify the VA of your release date and bring your DD-214 and release documents.
The Transition Housing Program (THP) and other VA homeless veterans programs are available in Hawaii and may be particularly relevant if you are returning to Oahu or another island without confirmed housing.
The Geographic Challenge
Hawaii is unique in this series because of its geography. If you have been held in a mainland facility, your reentry planning must account for the logistics of returning to Hawaii -- transportation costs, timing, and the need to confirm housing and community support before you land. Federal and state programs for which you are eligible apply upon your return to Hawaii.
Start this planning well before release. Your Hawaii DCR case manager should be your primary contact for coordinating the return. Confirm that your state ID, Med-QUEST enrollment, and SNAP eligibility are arranged to activate upon your return, not after you figure out where you are going to sleep.
Start Before You Leave
Hawaii's DCR reentry framework and the Med-QUEST reentry waiver both exist to begin the transition process before release day. Your case manager and transitional services coordinator should be engaged in ID, Medicaid enrollment, and community linkage planning starting months before your release date.
If those conversations have not happened, initiate them. Ask: Has my state ID been processed through the mobile unit program? Has my pre-release Med-QUEST enrollment been initiated under the reentry waiver? Has my SSA prerelease process been started?
On release day -- or upon your return to Hawaii if you were held on the mainland -- your first stops are confirming your state ID is in hand, activating your Med-QUEST coverage through DHS, and applying for SNAP at the PAIS portal. Two programs, one portal, one visit. Build from there.