Project pushes changes
to help Big Island youths

The review suggests new justice
centers for troubled juveniles

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By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.com

HILO >> A Big Island project called Youth Builders recommends new juvenile justice centers, more recreational facilities and greater sharing of information among community agencies to deal with the island's youth problems.

Those were a small sample of the recommendations revealed yesterday after a yearlong assessment of Big Island juvenile problems by the program more formally known as the Comprehensive Strategic Plan for Juvenile Justice.

The program was carried out with a $141,650 federal grant obtained by Big Island Prosecutor Jay Kimura.

Among the findings, about 30 percent of Big Island eighth-graders had drunk alcohol within 30 days, 12 percent of high school students have been suspended for major crimes, and half of all eighth-graders said they get poor supervision at home.

"This is what drives our request for financial support," said mayoral aide Bill Kenoi.

"We can say to the federal government, 'Look how bad it is.'"

Two proposed Community Assessment Centers, one each in East and West Hawaii, would serve as one-stop centers for situations ranging from parents frustrated by their children to youths charged with crime, said project coordinator Allen Salavea.

Another area under study is possible changes to the state's privacy laws, Salavea said. The laws now are so restrictive that they "often impair the necessary exchange of information between agencies," a project report says.

But Waiakea High School teacher Paula De Morales said some improvement has come just from agencies working on the project.