Thanks to our community, Hawaii has been given a gift.
On June 24, the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) returned six furloughed women to prison through no fault of their own. These women were residents at YWCA Oahu’s Fernhurst program and were building foundations for successful community reentry. DPS ended the contract that has been in place for nearly 30 years. The response from the community was swift and overwhelmingly clear: This is a travesty and should not stand.
A petition created by program alumni is approaching 150,000 signatures, a reflection of the larger conversation that is taking place nationally regarding calls for social and transformational justice. Hawaii legislators and the governor were bombarded by demands, prompting House Speaker Scott Saiki and Finance Chairwoman Sylvia Luke to pass a bill to restore funding. Saiki called this a “no brainer,” and spoke of the program’s effectiveness in transforming lives.
Program alumnae organized a rally at the state Capitol on June 30, attended by nearly 300 people. They carried signs, got lots of honks and spoke of the life-changing nature of the program: “It saved my life”; “I would literally be dead if it weren’t for this program”; “Now I have a job, I pay taxes, I am back with my children, this would have never happened without Fernhurst.”
Rep. Chris Lee stated emphatically, “It’s important people speak out, not just today to prevent this program from being cut, not just tomorrow to help expand it, but each day from here forward because Fernhurst is a model for how to properly fix our criminal justice and corrections systems. This kind of program reduces recidivism and cost to taxpayers, while improving rehabilitation and outcomes for society.”
He nailed it. The importance of community-based programming cannot be overstated. The devastating impact of keeping nonviolent, justice-involved women in prison when they can safely be in the community is profound. Incarceration creates a host of collateral consequences, felt disproportionately by Native Hawaiians and people of color, that include restricted employment prospects, housing instability, family disruption, poor health outcomes, stigma and disenfranchisement.
The Hawaii state motto, “Ua mau ke ea o ka ‘aina i ka pono,” usually is translated as “the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.” However, at it’s deepest meaning, pono means hope. The life of this land is perpetuated in hope.
Ka Hale Ho‘ala Hou No Na Wahine (the home of reawakening for women), the work furlough program at Fernhurst, represents both meanings: righteousness and hope in how we treat not only incarcerated women but all of the people of Hawaii.
In the nearly 30 years that the state has issued the work-release contract — first through TJ Mahoney & Associates and now through Fernhurst YWCA Oahu — nearly 2,000 women have been served with astounding success. These success stories with their associated costs, more than justify the need to keep and even expand this essential community resource. It truly is a proven and effective way that Hawaii can invest in marginalized communities.
Herein lies Hawaii’s gift: The community is demanding that DPS listen to the myriad voices and kukulu kumuhana, come together and provide community resources and aloha, that we alu like, work together to embrace, support and elevate women who have been disregarded and cast aside.
The time is here to huliau, change direction, step up, transform our inhumane criminal justice system and move toward becoming what we say we are in Hawaii, the Aloha State.
