Hawai`i Is So Close to Ending the Incarceration of Young Girls
The state had two months with no young people in the girls’ unit of its only long-term placement facility. It’s reason to celebrate, but the work isn’t over. Originally shared on the Vera Institute of Justice by Nazish Dholakia, Senior Writer and Lindsay Rosenthal,...
How Hawaii brought its population of girls in prison to zero
Original story published on NBC News by Christopher Cicchiello on Oct. 1, 2022 click here to read. Hawaii reached the milestone earlier this year of having no girls in its only youth correctional facility — a first in state history, officials say. It was a...
Justice Reform with Mark Kawika Patterson
Original story published on CNHA's Midday Manaʻo podcast on August 10, 2022, click here to view. On this week’s episode, Manu and Mehana are joined by Mark Kawika Patterson, Administrator of the Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center and Chair of the Hawaiʻi State...
Improving Hawaii’s Health
Original story published on Hawaii Business Magazine on August 10, 2022, click here to read. Focusing on vulnerable and underserved populations, Kaiser Permanente provides support to many nonprofit organizations to uplift the community’s overall health and well-being....
OYAH Policy Intern Presents At CNHA Convention
On July 21st, Opportunity Youth Action Hawaiʻi (OYAH) intern Leah Delos Santos presented at the 21st Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement convention on behalf of the Partners in Development Foundation (PIDF), featuring the important policy work of OYAH at...
Girls in Hawaii were once jailed for ‘offences’ like fleeing unsafe homes. Now they’re not locked up at all
Originally shared on Australian Broadcasting Corporation by Anna Kelsey-Sugg and Ann Arnold on July 27, 2022, click here to read. In 2021, there were 819 young people incarcerated on an average night in Australia. Most were aged between 10 and 17 years old, 50 per...
Hawaii has no girls in juvenile detention. Here’s how it got there
Original story shared on The Washington Post by Claire Healy on July 25, 2022, click here to read. When Mark Patterson took over as administrator of the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility in 2014, he inherited 500 acres of farm ranch — and the care of 26 boys and...
More Help Is Coming For Hawaii’s Homeless Youth
Original story published on Honolulu Civil Beat on July 25, 2022 by Megan Tagami, click here to read. At 2 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, teenagers at the Residential Youth Services and Empowerment program have just finished their music therapy class. Inside the...
Native Hawaiian-centered approach helps youth heal and become healers
Original story published on Every Child Thrives on July 21, 2022 click here to read. When teens and young adults first walk onto the fields of Kupa ʻAina Natural Farm, Zachary Huang doesn’t expect much from them. He knows it could be days before they talk or show...
Innovative program for at-risk youth in the running for competitive $20M grant
Original story published on Hawaii News Now on July 19, 2022 by Lynn Kawano, click here to read. https://vimeo.com/732292523/296b613764 HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – An Oahu program that helps at-risk youth and young adults could soon be getting millions of dollars in...
Emerging ‘ōiwi leaders join community of change-makers at Opportunity Youth Forum
Original story published by Kamehameha Schools on July 1, 2022, click here to read. Eight young leaders from O‘ahu recently traveled to the Opportunity Youth Forum in San Francisco to connect with other young adults from historically oppressed communities, and to...
The Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility Has No Girls. Can It Do The Same For Boys?
Original story published on Honolulu Civil Beat on June 23, 2022 by Megan Tagami, click here to read. For the first time in its history, the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility holds no incarcerated girls. Some believe that the same fate for boys may not be far behind....
For the first time, there are no girls incarcerated at Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility
Original story published on Hawaiʻi News Now on June 20, 2022 by Samie Solina, click here to read. HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – For the first time, there are no girls incarcerated at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility — the product of a years-long effort to...
Working Toward Native Hawaiian Equity in Our Justice System
Original story published on Honolulu Civil Beat’s Community Voice column on March 16, 2022 by Leah Delos Santos and Lyla Gonsalves, click here to read. Bills pending at the Legislature this session focus on rehabilitation and cultural practices. Driving by the...
Farming Program That Aims to Help At-Risk Youth Find Their Way Is a Finalist for $20m Grant
Original story aired on Hawaii News Now by Jim Mendoza on Sep. 27, 2021, click here to view. HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – On a small farm at the foot of Mount Olomana, the Kawailoa Project helps disadvantaged and at-risk youth find their way. “We wanted to create a...
Hawaiʻi Among 10 Finalists for $90 Million Global Challenge to Boldly Address Systemic Racism
Racial Equity 2030 will unleash transformative solutions to improve the lives of children, families and communities across the world. Today, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced a Hawaiʻi based project to replace youth incarceration led by Partners in...
Voices of Our Community
“Ke Kama Pono really changed my life. Not only in how I’m living now… I was up to the point where I really didn’t want to live anymore and they kind of gave me a reason to live… I’m more of a better person than I was before.”
– N. Momosea
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