Kaua'i plans drug treatment sites
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Church and nonprofit groups plan several drug treatment facilities around Kaua'i, addressing what Mayor Bryan Baptiste said is a shortfall in the island's battle against drug abuse.
"One of the saddest things for me is to go to other islands to look at their facilities and be confronted by Kaua'i residents when I get there," Baptiste said Friday.
While for some individuals it's a good thing to be removed from a problem home environment, many are being sent to other islands and the Mainland for treatment because there's so little residential treatment available on the island, he said.
The mayor and county, church and nonprofit leaders who have been collaborating on establishing drug treatment facilities announced their plans Friday.
Baptiste said he wants to use the old Kaua'i Humane Society shelter site in Hanapepe as a treatment center for youths, employing existing structures and temporary buildings that once housed county offices. The teen treatment program Hale 'Opio and the Bobby Benson Center are working together to develop a program to operate at the site, said Hale 'Opio director Mary Lou Barela.
Maui Youth and Family Services, which runs residential programs on the Valley Isle, also is developing a proposal for the site, said that agency's Daryl Selman and Catie Myers.
Pastor Bob Hallman said Calvary Chapel of Kaua'i will work with a drug and alcohol treatment program called U-Turn for Christ to develop a men's facility at a site the church recently acquired in Kapa'a. The program will include agricultural projects on church land.
The Aloha Church in Lihu'e plans to use vacant land behind its church building for a Christian-based Teen Challenge program to assist drug abusers of all ages. The program emphasizes crisis intervention, Bible study, academic and vocational training, and employment, said pastor Vil Galiza.
The YWCA of Kaua'i is looking for a location for a women's residential treatment center and the money to run such a program, said Eila Fuller, its director of development and finance.
Baptiste said there are preliminary plans as well for an adult facility on the southern side of the island and an adolescent facility on the north shore, but it is too early to name the organizations working on them.
Kaua'i Economic Opportunity is working on the development of a homeless shelter near the Water Department offices in Lihu'e. The agency's housing coordinator, Stephanie Fernandes, said it's not specifically for people with drug problems, but county anti-drug coordinator Roy Nishida said the issues are linked, because drug problems are significant among the homeless.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
