DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Tanya Santiago is a counselor at Kahuku High School's Teen Care program, which provides help for youths with alcohol or drug problems. Hina Mauka runs Teen Care in 17 high and middle schools. CLICK FOR LARGE

Fight the stupor: Teen Care takes sobriety to school

Schools host program to urge sobriety

AT FIRST, some kids arrested for alcohol or substance abuse fight the idea of going to the 16-week Teen Care program, but when it ends they do not want to leave, a counselor said.

"Oftentimes they have so many problems with parents. All they need is someone to let them know, 'I care about you,'" said Tanya Santiago, of Kahuku High & Intermediate School.

Teen Care provides individual counseling and group therapy to students at 17 high schools and middle schools on Oahu and Kauai. The program is operated by Hina Mauka, a nonprofit substance abuse prevention and treatment agency based in Kaneohe.

All public high schools and some middle schools in Hawaii have alcohol and drug treatment programs, and the 2005 Legislature provided $1.8 million to expand services to 21 middle schools on Oahu, four on the Big Island and three in Maui County.

Hina Mauka already has programs in Kauai's schools and is bidding for three more middle schools on Oahu.

Other nonprofit agencies providing drug treatment services in schools are the YMCA, Institute for Family Enrichment, Aloha House, Maui Youth and Family Services, Hawaii Hale Ho'o Kupa'a and the Big Island Substance Abuse Treatment Council.

Keith Yamamoto, chief of the state Health Department's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division, said funding for adolescent alcohol and drug treatment programs in schools this fiscal year totals $6.5 million, including the new appropriation. Schools receive $10,000 to $90,000 for the program, depending on their size, he said.

Yamamoto praised the schools and the nonprofit agencies for developing a program "that has not been duplicated anywhere in the country as extensively."

Hina Mauka officials said the program is getting national attention.

M.P. "Andy" Anderson, Hina Mauka's chief executive officer the past 11 years, said the program began in the 1980s at Castle High School, "and it took off."

When schools saw the good outcomes, they began asking, "How can we get this?" he said. "It was a grass-roots movement, not only helping kids, but administrators, with behavior problems."

Castle Principal Meredith Maeda said the program provides extra support for students and that drug usage has declined as a result.

"The good thing about it, even after they're finished with their program, if they still feel they need that support, it's always there," he said.

Radford High School students asked the principal for the program, and it started in 2004 with 70 kids on the waiting list, said Alan Johnson, Hina Mauka's chief operating officer, who will succeed Anderson Monday as CEO.

Confidentiality is key, Johnson said. "You don't have to tell your parents. We present ourselves in a trustful nature so kids aren't afraid to talk with us.

"It's a huge success story."

Of the 600 to 700 kids seen annually in Teen Care, he said, the result has been 90 percent abstinence or reduced alcohol and drug use in school, and positive grades.

Counselors work with groups of 15 to 20 students. Eight students achieved sobriety over two months in the last cycle at Kahuku High & Intermediate, said Santiago, the counselor. "You see a difference in these kids. They feel positive about themselves. They find themselves creating their own support network."

Kahuku Principal Lisa DeLong praised Santiago and other counselors for their training and professionalism. "They're caring on one end but also authoritative on the other side."

Some students are referred to the program, but others join on their own.

"A lot of them are from single-family homes, with a lot of drugs in the family or community. There are other issues outside of school impacting their education," said Kahuku Vice Principal Bernie Suafoa, who worked with Teen Care at King Intermediate before going to Kahuku.

Santiago, Teen Care counselor at Kahuku for four years, said the program not only deals with alcohol and substance abuse, but helps "find ways to help them overcome the problems and challenges they have."

The counselors work with them on academic underachievement, anger management, family problems such as divorce, negative peer pressure, sexual acting-out and low self-esteem, she said. "I've worked with clients who were suicidal, who were self-mutilators. Our goal is to help them look at what is going on so they can live more productive, healthier lives."

Students today are "like the children of the 'ice' generation, and a lot of our clients are dealing with their own parents' addiction," Santiago said.

Counselors use different therapies and techniques to try to change the way the students look at things, she said. "It's a lot of reframing. We teach them about developing self-awareness, values and strengths, to help (attain) a clean and sober lifestyle for them."

Colleen Fox, Teen Care director of adolescent services, said students reported in evaluations last year that group sessions helped them overcome fears and stop using drugs and alcohol.

They felt they could express themselves honestly in private sessions with the counselor, and all said this helped them deal with everyday challenges, she said.

One student commented, "I feel I've succeeded in my teenage life and cut back in smoking and drinking, but most of all doing good in school."