Experts to discuss faults
in Hawaii’s juvenile system
Dozens of youth services professionals, including two mainland juvenile justice reform advocates, will gather tonight at a forum to brainstorm about alternatives to juvenile incarceration and to tackle concerns about the Hawaii Youth Community Correctional Facility.
The session comes in the wake of a 34-page report by the American Civil Liberties Union's Hawaii chapter that alleged serious problems at the Kailua youth facility, including overcrowding and inmate abuse.
After the report was released in August, Gov. Linda Lingle replaced the facility's top management. An investigation into the report's charges is pending.
"Most people don't think about juveniles who are behind bars," said ACLU Executive Director Vanessa Chong, who helped plan tonight's forum. "Our mission, in part, is to make the public aware of how Hawaii treats its kids."
Representatives from more than 40 state and private agencies whose clients include children are expected to attend the session, which will include a panel of local and national juvenile justice experts.
"Our purpose is really to get questions and concerns and input from the community," said Gail Gnazzo, chief executive officer of Maui's Youth and Family Services. "We're looking at coming up with some solutions."
Gnazzo and Chong co-chair the Hawaii Juvenile Justice Project, a group of private and public programs that joined to raise awareness about the state of Hawaii's juvenile justice system.
Gnazzo said the forum's panelists and attendees will discuss what options are available to juveniles who commit crimes and how the state can funnel more money into centers focused on treatment rather than detention.
"I really do think that a lot of people don't understand the needs of the youngsters who are there (at the facility)," Gnazzo said. "We've been consistently told that a lot of the youngsters are only there because there are no treatment programs."
Mary Lou Barela, executive director of Hale Opio Kauai Inc., will serve as moderator. Her program offers emergency shelter services and therapeutic foster homes to juveniles.
Panelists include:
>> Sue Burrell, a staff attorney at California Youth Law Center, who has fought for reducing unnecessary detention of juveniles and keeping youths out of adult jails.The forum will be held from 6 to 7:25 p.m. in the Blaisdell Center's Pikake Room. Admission is $5, but children under 18 can attend for free.>> Daniel Macallair, executive director of California's Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, whose expertise is in the development of correctional policy for young and adult offenders.