Wally Lau, a member of the Juvenile Justice State Advisory Council who lives on Hawaii island, comes across the teenagers in chains at the Kona Airport, headed to Honolulu.
"What is really sad, you see them handcuffed and shackled with those leg chains," he said. "They’re sitting at the airport with all these passengers. They try to act tough. And I wonder, if this kid is maybe 14, 16 years old, is this kid still a baby on the inside and has to put on this tough act?
"Maybe this individual did commit a serious crime," added Lau, who is managing director of Hawaii County. "I think there are others that are being sent over that if we had good alternatives to detention on this island, don’t have to go that way."
About 55 percent of the youth in the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility are from the neighbor islands, even though those islands account for 30 percent of the state’s population.
These teens are cut off from their families and communities, largely because there aren’t programs available for them on their own islands that would be an alternative to lockup, officials said.
"We really should be utilizing our state’s correctional facility for kids that are a risk to public safety, not because we can’t figure out what to do with them," said David Hipp, executive director of the Office of Youth Services, who oversees the state’s youth jail, the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility, or "Koolau," in Kailua.
Various efforts are underway to try to keep kids whose infractions are minor from being incarcerated, a costly and often inappropriate response. The Office of Youth Services is forming task forces in each county to consider civil citations for status offenses such as running away and truancy, which wouldn’t be crimes if committed by an adult.
"Fifty percent of our arrests over the past 10 years have been for status offenses," Hipp said. "Right now we are working with the prosecutor’s office and HPD and the court to institute a civil citation program, where the kids wouldn’t be arrested. And if they sufficiently comply with whatever sanctions and successfully follow up with the services, there would be an informal adjustment, and the youth would not have to go to court."
The teens could be diverted to community centers where their situation could be examined individually, and consequences meted out along with services such as substance abuse counseling or family strengthening programs. The Boys & Girls Club in Waianae has made space available for a Family Court probation officer who works with youth in the area.
"The people there are very caring people. It’s a place of safety and peace, a great place to learn, share your issues, cry and start healing," Lau said. "These kids have all made the wrong choices, but I don’t think they are at that point in their lives when they should be locked up right away."
A youth assessment center is in the works in Hilo, backed by the county prosecutor’s office with support from the Juvenile Justice Advisory Council and the Office of Youth Services.
The state wants to set up such centers in each county, Hipp said, "so when a youth gets picked up, they can be immediately assessed and immediately get a plan in place and not have to wait months for the court process to unfold."
"Unfortunately, the statistics nationwide show that the day a youth walks into a correctional facility, his chances of re-incarceration, re-offending as an adult, not being successful in opportunities for education, for a job, all kind of go downhill," Hipp said. "You take a traumatized kid and you lock ’em up, you get a more traumatized kid."
"As a state, we could do a better job at the very front end with these kids," he said. "We could be doing more things in the arena of family strengthening and substance abuse treatment. I’m feeling optimistic that we can do this."
