KAPAIA — Life’s Choices coordinator Theresa Koki said the adolescent treatment and healing center is like an Easter present scheduled to open in the spring.
Koki, Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. and several county dignitaries visited the site recently to watch the Adolescent Treatment and Healing Center receive its concrete pour for the facility’s foundation. That process should be completed this week.
“This is like a dream come true,” Koki said. “After years of discussions, planning and collaboration, the Adolescent Treatment and Healing Center is taking form and will truly be a benefit for this community. Mahalo to the Hanamaulu Community Association for its support for this project. Without them, this center would not be possible.”
In addition to the concrete being laid for the facility’s foundation, crews from Earthworks Pacific continued with site work while workers from Gill Development started raising walls for the buildings.
“They just started putting up the walls Tuesday afternoon,” said Ashley Quinn, the Layton Construction assistant project manager. “And they finished. Now, they’re working on raising more walls.”
Barring any construction delays, the project is on schedule to be completed by this spring.
“I would like to commend Layton Construction, all the subcontractors, our team at the County of Kauai, the state and our stakeholders for the progress that is being made,” Carvalho said. “With all of our partners working together, the center should be operating by next spring.”
Located on a 5.8-acre parcel donated by Grove Farm Company, the center will consist of a treatment and healing center with the capacity to provide mental health and substance-abuse related supportive services to adolescents and their families.
The center will include an eight-bedroom residential structure that may be expanded. There will be additional open space for recreational and agricultural healing activities, and a building dedicated for community and/or professional support services with an attached classroom and training module.
The county plans to contract the operations of the new center to an experienced service provider. Funding for the construction and site improvements are being funded by the state and the county.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
While this will definitely help some kids, most people don’t have insurance that covers in patient drug treatment. Without that money you can’t go here. So the real question is will there be enough people who can get coverage for treatment to keep this place open.