LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i Teen Court, a program developed by Hale ‘Opio in 1995, could be in trouble after the state Judiciary cut its funding for the 2010 Fiscal Year during deliberations Thursday, a press release from Hale ‘Opio’s Mary Navarro.
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i Teen Court, a program developed by Hale ‘Opio in 1995, could be in trouble after the state Judiciary cut its funding for the 2010 Fiscal Year during deliberations Thursday, a press release from Hale ‘Opio’s Mary Navarro.
The budget line item of $60,000 supporting Kaua‘i Teen Court was totally cut from the 5th Circuit Court budget, Navarro said, despite the program serving 300 to 400 referrals each year. David Lam, Kaua‘i’s Juvenile Client Services Administrator, notified Hale ‘Opio by telephone of the decision.
Kaua‘i Teen Court was designed to reduce the load of first-time youth offenders on the Family Court system and to provide a rapid response when an offense occurs. In many court systems, it is not uncommon for a six- to nine-month delay before a youth and their family receive even a letter regarding an offense, Navarro said.
Because of the delay, offenders begin to believe there will be little or no real consequence for their actions. Kaua‘i Teen Court quickly provides family intake, a court hearing presided over by a volunteer per diem judge, and sentence requirements assigned by a jury of their peers.
Kaua‘i Teen Court program was originally based on similar youth court programs around the country, which are now available in every state except Connecticut, Navarro said. Kaua‘i Teen Court is a voluntary diversion program for first-time juvenile offenders where the same rules of confidentiality, promptness, and respect for the court process apply.
The program is based on Restorative Justice and the ability of the offender to “make things right,” instead of punishment. Some of the primary goals of Kaua‘i Teen Court are to build skills, promote competency, and leave the respondent with new choices, which will hopefully prevent re-offenses. Successful completion of the program means that the respondent will have no juvenile court record.
In 2005, the last year with publicly available data from the Attorney General’s office, Kaua‘i had the highest delinquency offense referral rate in the state with 76.9 referrals per 1,000 youths aged 10 through 17, according to the release.
Of those referrals, 44 percent were for crimes against property — home burglaries, motor vehicle theft or minor shoplifting, for example. Kaua‘i also had the highest proportion of “person offense” referrals — 25 percent — in the state, which could range from homicide to school yard fights, the release said.
Over the past four years, there has been an average of 287 cases processed annually in the Kaua‘i Teen Court program, with an average of 178 completions each year, the release said.
Of those who completed their sentencing, 82 percent did not recidivate for one year in the same offense, but 42 percent did recidivate in within a year in one offense or another, the release said.
“The program has been remarkably successful,” Navarro said. “Kaua‘i Teen Court has helped the youth of Kaua‘i receive restorative justice with assistance from their peers, improving their own lives and the community’s well-being, and freeing the overburdened court system as well.”
In a phone interview, Navarro said Hale ‘Opio has been contacting legislators seeking to avoid the program’s elimination.
For more information, visit www.haleopio.org.
