Grant creates ‘safe haven’ for troubled youth

BY NANCY COOK LAUER | WEST HAWAII TODAY

HILO — A Big Island one-stop juvenile intake and assessment center will become a pilot project for the state, thanks to a $200,000 federal grant to the Hawaii County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

The county was notified of the award Jan. 17 and has until Sept. 30 to obligate the funds.

The money will be used to create a “safe haven” for youth picked up and taken into police custody, said Acting Prosecutor Charlene Iboshi. The youth will spend time with social workers or counselors while waiting for parents to arrive, she said.

The project will begin in Hilo, but there are plans to expand it to West Hawaii, she added.

“The goal is to have this in West Hawaii as soon as this can be set up,” Iboshi said.

The $200,000, to be administered by the state Department of Human Services Office of Youth Services, is a far cry from the $1.6 million Mayor Billy Kenoi requested of the 2010 Legislature. At the time, Kenoi sought to build a center in Pahoa to serve some 40 youth.

The new project will provide juvenile offenders with a single point of entry for assessment, crisis intervention, service integration, short-term holding and referral. If the pilot is successful, the state is expected to provide continued funding.

The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will take advantage of existing government buildings, probably in Hilo at the outset, Iboshi said. The focus will be on the program itself, with the goal to avoid sending youth off-island to detention centers while freeing up police officers from baby-sitting duties.

Currently police officers who take juveniles into custody must wait with them until their parents show up.

“The ones with the guns, we want them out in the community protecting us,” Iboshi said.

The County Council is expected to approve the project at its regular meeting Wednesday in Hilo.

ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com