Rehab programs lack oversight, regulations
By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i prisons paroled 972 convicts last year, hundreds of whom have been admitted to the only two "structured living" programs in the state that seek to help parolees and others blend back into society.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Fresh Start Inc. of Waipahu and Victory 'Ohana Prison Fellowship in Iwilei operate programs designed to help those who are on parole or probation and those awaiting trial on criminal charges deal with such problems as alcoholism, drug addiction and anger.
Wayne Uehara, a resident of Victory 'Ohana, adjusted a sign at the entrance of the Around the Clock Cafe last week. The restaurant, which is owned and managed by Victory 'Ohana graduate Joseph Barroza, left, will begin providing food industry training to residents.
Both programs, however, operate under little scrutiny by government agencies. No one regulates how much the facilities can charge residents, who they can accept or what rehabilitation programs they offer. No one, not even the programs themselves, measures the ratio of success to failure.
Even the state Paroling Authority, which sends prisoners to Fresh Start and Victory 'Ohana in an increasing effort to thin out crowded prisons, cannot say for sure how many people move through the programs. What is clear, said Tommy Johnson, administrator of the Hawai'i Paroling Authority, is that neither Fresh Start nor Victory 'Ohana is a model of efficiency.
"Neither of them is what I would call an outstanding success story," Johnson said. "But they're all we've got."
Johnson said problems with Victory 'Ohana are related to insect and rodent infestation, poor plumbing and security deficiencies but that its officials are committed to cleaning up the facility.
Fresh Start has more serious problems involving the "fair and equitable" treatment of residents, Johnson said. He has allowed 22 parolees living at Fresh Start to remain there but is sending no new referrals until questions about the program can be clarified. Fresh Start also is under investigation by the state attorney general's office involving allegations that the program's founder and president, Ron Barker, tried to extort money from residents or their family and friends.
The state Department of Health, which last year canceled a contract with Fresh Start to provide mental health services, is trying to determine whether the program should be licensed as a drug treatment facility after a resident died there by overdosing on heroin and an anti-depressant drug. The Adult Probation Division also is examining the circumstances surrounding that death.
Difficult but important role
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Barker, the founder and president of Fresh Start, which opened in 1997, said he has documentation that will clear him of all allegations, and that one state agency he didn't name has already determined that Fresh Start did not misuse money.
Ron Ford, Victory 'Ohana administrator, said it's hard to make a difference without resources.
Barker has declined The Advertiser's requests for interviews but said in a letter that his facility is needed for non-violent offenders who may be abusing drugs or alcohol but do not belong in prison.
"Currently, there are 6,000 inmates in Hawai'i's correctional system," he wrote. "Each year, the number continues to grow, primarily because of alcohol and drug abuse. Fresh Start Inc. is the only program that goes into the prisons and the jails to offer these people the help that they need."
Johnson, of the Paroling Authority, said programs such as Victory 'Ohana and Fresh Start "can play an important role in helping parolees from re-offending. But they're not easy to open nor to operate. The cost of liability insurance is high. It's tough to make enough money to stay open, particularly in the first couple of years. And nobody wants them in their neighborhood."
Dr. Ute Goldkuhler, a former professor at the University of Hawai'i School of Nursing and former board member at Fresh Start, strongly supports not only the program but also Barker and his wife Norma Jean, the vice president of Fresh Start.
"Hawai'i desperately needs programs like Fresh Start as alternatives to incarceration," she said. "I was very impressed by Ron Barker's tremendous commitment to helping people on the margins of society. It's such a difficult business to be in and it's so poorly rewarded."
Victory 'Ohana administrator Ron Ford said his program, which serves 100 to 150 people a year, has had its own set of problems in its 11-year history.
"Hiring professional, capable staff is tough when you don't have the money," said Ford, who worked with Barker before joining Victory 'Ohana in July 2000. "And it's tough to make a difference when you don't have the staff."
No licensing, little review
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Getting into either Fresh Start or Victory 'Ohana is a condition of parole, probation or bail and largely the responsibility of the person facing criminal charges. Those in prison and eligible for parole must get the permission of the Paroling Authority. Those in jail and eligible for probation must get a judge's approval. Others get into the program as an condition of bail, including those who are awaiting trial or those have been convicted but not sentenced.
Andrea Hunter said she was thrown out of Fresh Start after a month.
No state licensing is needed for Fresh Start and Victory 'Ohana to operate and there is little government oversight even though hundreds are accepted into their programs each year. The Paroling Authority recently started visiting the facilities four times a year, and parole officers make weekly contact with those who were sent there from prison. Those on probation visit with probation officers once or twice a month.
Although many of the people who have enrolled in the organizations' six-month programs have drug or alcohol problems, neither facility has been certified or licensed as a substance abuse treatment facility, according to state health officials.
Each program brings in licensed counselors to work with residents, and Ford said Victory 'Ohana is in the process of seeking certification from the Health Department as a drug treatment facility.
"It's a long, complicated process," Ford said.
At Fresh Start's 125-bed facility, 30 residents are pre-trial detainees, men and women accused but not convicted of criminal offenses. Frank Lopez, head of the state's Intake Service Center, said 16 of the 30 are charged with drug offenses and many of the rest are facing charges such theft or burglary that "could be drug-related."
Lopez, whose office advises state judges on whether individuals accused of crimes should be eligible for bail, says he's aware that Fresh Start is not a licensed drug treatment facility and makes a note of that on bail reports in cases when defense attorneys ask that their clients be referred there.
The Intake Service Center does not assess the severity or treatability of a defendant's drug problem, Lopez said. "That's up to the program that agrees to accept them."
Lopez said many defendants sent to Fresh Start don't complete the program and are released back into the community pending trial.
Circuit Judge Wilfred Watanabe, who has sent defendants to Fresh Start, said he has done so because "they need treatment of some kind," but said he has no statistics that would indicate who gets through and who does not. He also lacks detailed information on what programs provide.
"Some people have been able to make it through the program there, but I don't have any hard figures on how many," he said.
Helping offenders rehabilitate
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Both Fresh Start and Victory 'Ohana say they offer classroom training in anger management, computer skills and life skills, such as preparing a household budget or applying for a job. Residents say they live in a structured environment during the first few months, but restrictions are gradually loosened over time.
A participant in the Fresh Start program recently sold clothing and other items at the Kam Super Swap Meet.
Ford of Victory 'Ohana said Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are important parts of his program.
"Like it or not, prison inmates do come back into society," Ford said. "Some of them are worse off than before they went into prison ... angry, hopeless, no idea how to get a job or fit in. If they don't come out first to a place that's going to monitor and help them, they're just going to be on the streets."
Victory 'Ohana charges residents $1,600 per month for each of the first three months of the six-month program although those who qualify to get in are not prohibited from entering if they cannot pay. After three months, a resident is expected to have a job, and half of the residents' net income goes to Victory 'Ohana, said Ford.
Most don't have the entry fee money and apply for welfare benefits of about $375 a month to help defray the costs, Ford said. Food bills at Victory 'Ohana are separate from rent, usually paid for with food stamp benefits of $50 per week, he said.
Residents are expected to repay the balance over time, after they find work and establish themselves back in the community, Ford said.
"Somebody works for us, painting, doing maintenance, anything, we pay them $6 an hour," he said. "We also help them find jobs and they pay us back as they can." Ford said Victory 'Ohana relies mostly on outside donations for money.
Barker of Fresh Start did not respond to written questions from The Advertiser about what is charged at the facility or about finances in general, other than to say the organization's accounting system is based on "generally accepted accounting principles." He added that Fresh Start uses a "reputable and respectable" accounting firm and has an independent financial audit done each year.
Numerous former Fresh Start residents said they were charged between $350 and $370 per month, almost always paid with welfare benefits. Food also was extra, paid for with food stamp benefits.
Some former residents told The Advertiser they were told to come up with extra money or they would be thrown out of the program, allegations that the state attorney general's office is investigating.
Johnson of the Paroling Authority said Fresh Start charges a one-time non-refundable $600 processing fee to cover the costs of interviewing and assessing a potential resident plus $360 a month rent.
He said he has heard that Fresh Start charges more for some residents than others based on their ability to pay. He also has concerns about Victory 'Ohana's charges.
"For Victory 'Ohana, we want to know what residents are getting for that money and why it's so much more than the other program," Johnson said. "For Fresh Start, why should some residents be charged more than others when there's no difference in services?"
Support or exploitation?
Some former Fresh Start residents said they were required to help raise money for the organization, which, according to its latest tax returns, had revenues of $895,000, including $385,000 in fees and contract payments from government agencies. It also had expenses of about $1 million and negative assets at the close of the year, according to its 2000 tax returns.
Andrea Hunter, who was placed in Fresh Start while she was on probation for a drug conviction, said she was in the program for about a month in 2000 before Barker threw her out.
"I spent most of my time at Fresh Start cleaning apartments during the day and calling people on the phone at night asking for donations," Hunter said.
Thomas Rogers, another former resident of Fresh Start, said he checked himself into the program. He was on probation for a drug offense and is now awaiting sentencing on multiple charges that he violated probation.
Rogers said that while he was in Fresh Start for three months late last year, he was regularly put to work stringing beads for a company that had contracted with Fresh Start for the service.
"Cases of beads — long long strings of them," Rogers said. "Your job was to take these big lengths of beads and break them down to lengths of 25 and then put a price tag on them."
"Fresh Start got paid for that, but the people who did the work never got paid," he said.
Rogers also said raising money was an important activity for Fresh Start residents.
"You had to go through the classified ads, people who were selling stuff, call them up and say, 'Don't sell it, donate it to us and get a tax write-off,' " he said.
Rogers and others said donated goods are frequently re-sold by Fresh Start at the Kam Swap Meet.
A Fresh Start resident who identified herself only as Marnie sold goods out of a van at the swap meet on a recent weekday, including a used bicycle, second-hand books, a few trinkets and used clothes. She said it's a cash-only business and no receipts are given.
Barker did not directly respond to The Advertiser's questions about the nature of his programs or allegations by former residents that Barker demanded extra money to keep them in the program or didn't pay them for work they performed.
"Your sources seem to mostly consist of convicted felons who are actively abusing alcohol and drugs and who have gone back to prison for committing violations of further crimes and abusing alcohol and drugs," he wrote.
Success and failure
Neither Fresh Start nor Victory 'Ohana have kept records on their residents' success and failure rates, although Ford said that Victory 'Ohana has begun to do so. Nor does any government agency.
Several Fresh Start residents provided testimonials to The Advertiser in support of Barker and his program.
"When I first arrived at Fresh Start, I didn't know what to expect," wrote Eugene Dawson, who said he has been in the program 2 1/2 months. "The instructors, staff and everyone that has been involved with making my life better has been very beneficial to my way of thinking, attitude and rekindling ambition inside of me that I thought were long gone."
Another resident, Christopher Alikahee, said he had a culinary arts degree and cooked in resorts and hotels for 12 years before falling victim to drugs. He landed in the O'ahu Community Correctional Center for six days before making bail and failed six times in other drug-treatment programs. Those programs, he said, paled in comparison to Fresh Start and its classes in cognitive skills and relapse prevention.
"Though I had a rough start here at first, I am now in treatment for a longer period of time than I have managed to stay in treatment anywhere," he wrote. "I feel fortunate and am taking full advantage of what's being offered here. I have been here five months and I will finish this program and get my life back."
However, not all succeed.
Ronald W. Ford, a 41-year-old homeless man, was arrested in February of last year with a syringe of heroin in his hand and an ice pipe in his pocket, according to police reports.
Unable to post $11,000 bail, Ford was held in jail awaiting trial on four drug charges until August, when his defense lawyer asked Judge Watanabe to send Ford to Fresh Start. Ford, not related to Ron Ford of Victory 'Ohana, stayed there until October, according to court records.
Barker said in a letter to the court that Ford was "terminated" from Fresh Start "due to his inability to follow the rules and regulations and for leaving the program without prior authorization."
Ford hasn't been seen since. There's a warrant out for his arrest.
Whether anybody will be able to measure the impact of programs such as Fresh Start and Victory 'Ohana will be up to the Legislature. A Paroling Authority request for $50,000 to develop a reporting system to evaluate the programs' effectiveness died in committee at the Legislature this year.
"The state and the public need to provide more money for adequate services," said Johnson, of the Paroling Authority. "Otherwise the recidivism rates (for repeat offenders) just won't go down."
Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2447.
