Youth prison reform initiated

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

In response to a report criticizing the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility's operations, community and government officials have formed a group to change conditions at the facility and create more alternatives to youth incarceration.

The Hawai'i Juvenile Justice Project, made up of about two dozen people representing nonprofit community organizations, public agencies and others, is aimed at using a "nonlegal approach ... to raise awareness statewide about what juveniles face when they break the law and to make improvements to the juvenile justice system," said Vanessa Chong, project co-chairwoman and executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Chong said the project arose out of the ACLU's August report citing rape, brutality and crowded conditions at the facility. The report prompted Gov. Linda Lingle to change the facility's management, and state lawyers later obtained O'ahu grand jury indictments against one guard on charges that include the alleged rape of a girl at the facility and alleged intimidation of a witness by a guard.

The project, which is expected to draw more participants, also offers the potential of averting an ACLU lawsuit against the state because it aims at improving the system, Chong said. The ACLU's legal team is preparing to sue if conditions and practices at the facility do not improve, and is planning a later inspection, she said.

"This is an unprecedented collaboration that is occurring in Hawai'i, because for the first time you have a non-legal group working and you have litigation waiting in the wings," Chong said.

But while the potential litigation focuses on conditions at the facility, Chong said the Juvenile Justice Project would examine broader issues, such as determining how money and resources are spent on youth who break the law and reducing the number of children detained who could be better served in alternative programs.

As of yesterday, the youth prison housed 54 boys and 16 girls in facilities separated by Kalaniana'ole Highway in Kailua, according to Department of Human Services spokesman Derick Dahilig.

Chong noted that the project is "behind the eight ball" when it comes to legislative matters, because bills have to be introduced this month. But she said a legislative resolution would likely be sought to help the project collect information about how money is spent in the juvenile justice system.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.