Angry. Frightened. Sad.
When teenagers are marched in handcuffs through a discreet back entrance at the Susannah Wesley Community Center in Kalihi — or walk through the front door with their parents clutching a police citation — they display a range of emotions.
Mostly they are alienated and calling out for help, case workers say, desperate enough to take a chance on a new program that offers them both the promise of assistance and a clean slate.
The community center is part of the Ho’opono Mamo Civil Citation Initiative, a pilot program launched in Honolulu this spring.
For the next year and a half, first-time juvenile offenders busted for minor law violations in Honolulu’s 5th Patrol District — which includes the neighborhoods of Kalihi, Liliha, Nuuanu and Punchbowl — will be given the option of going to the center instead of going to court.
“These kids don’t need to be criminalized,” said David Hipp, executive director of the Office of Youth Services. “They need to be helped.”
[For more on this story, written by Jessica Terrell, go to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/07/hawaii-delinquent-kids-program_n_7237728.html?cps=gravity_2659_-6160331742867702943]
Comments (1)