"This is my house," one of the girls says, holding up her artwork. It's a piece of poster board shaped like a house with colored paper shapes and beads glued on. "It represents how it's crazy because we're always fighting. This heart here is broken, but it's still whole because we still love each other. We argue but we make up after."

It is a Friday afternoon and six girls are enjoying a creative outlet after an intense session in the courtroom. This is Girls Court, a program in Family Court that serves girls in the juvenile justice system. They meet once a month to check in with Presiding Judge Karen Radius and a team of probation officers, therapists and attorneys, all female.

Some of the girls arrive in leg chains from the detention hall. Most came from home with their mothers. One came late on a bus from the West side and narrowly averted a warrant for her arrest. One didn't show up at all, though her mother waited and waited in the courtroom. There were tears and weary sighs. It is not an easy thing, though the moments of success are sweet.

There are two groups of 12 girls who commit to Girls Court for a year. The cases are screened and those invited to join must show a willingness to gamely join in all activities and to follow rules. The girls receive intensive supervision and individual and family therapy as well as life-skills training. Their family members participate in classes and activities as well. There is frequent drug testing and the threat of punishment for misbehavior, but the emphasis is building on strength.

"We don't believe we can punish our way out of this," says Rachel Yuen, Girls Court program specialist. "We do expect accountability, but we do it differently."

The underlying belief of Girls Court is that teen girls are fundamentally different than boys, and that the larger juvenile justice system isn't set up to deal with those differences. Girls make up about 40 percent of all juvenile arrests in Hawai'i, and almost all of those arrested have some sort of trauma or victimization in their past.

"Girls often arrive in the system so wounded that they are full of mistrust, making them difficult to work with," said Adriane Abe, Girls Court program coordinator. "Their coping skills — running away, drugs, truancy — are often what get them into the juvenile justice system."

The goal, then, is to teach better ways to cope and to build self-esteem. Girls in trouble can come to believe that trouble is all they're good for. The program points them to a new definition of themselves.

The girl with the paper heart that is broken but whole held on tightly to her mom as she waited her turn before Judge Radius. She had some news to tell the judge. She just found out she's pregnant.

After court, she sat in class upstairs next to another Girls Court participant who is due to give birth in a few weeks. The teens talked about ultrasounds in quiet, sisterly tones while they worked on their collages.

For the past two years, volunteers from the American Pen Women Hawaii Chapter have provided the Friday after-court creative classes for the girls. Nancy Moss, a playwright and retired 'Iolani School English teacher, coordinates the sessions. In the past, she has had the girls write scenes for a stage play and then brought in actors to perform the pieces. She coordinated a session on slam poetry, and even got the girls to try ecstatic dance. In this session, artist Sabra Feldstein led the girls in creating collages that represent their idea of "home." The project really struck a chord with the girls, Moss said. "They really got into it."

"In activities like this, they can be children again," Feldstein said. "A lot of these children can't be children."

Feldstein asks each girl to share her finished piece, and as they do, she offers praise and encouragement for their self-expression. Many of the girls have a hard time accepting a compliment, even from the judge. When someone says something nice about their work, they squirm. They've come to believe so many bad things about themselves. The fundamental change is when they can see their assets and potential; or, as one participant is quoted in the program brochure:

"Girls Court gave me the permission to be good."

For more information, go to www.girlscourt.org.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172.