LIHU‘E — It wasn’t that long ago when Kelly James Kunio Francisco, 38, a Kaua‘i native formerly of Hanapepe, had drug problems that caused him to steal to support his habit. He was caught and went into a drug-rehabilitation program
LIHU‘E — It wasn’t that long ago when Kelly James Kunio Francisco, 38, a Kaua‘i native formerly of Hanapepe, had drug problems that caused him to steal to support his habit.
He was caught and went into a drug-rehabilitation program that he says saved his live. Now, he wants to help others do the same.
After being a client of the O‘ahu-based Habilitat substance-abuse-treatment program, he is now director of admissions for the agency and has found his niche. He said he wants Kauaians to know that beds and scholarship funds are available for those needing the intense treatment.
“I came in on a full scholarship,” which was probably the only way he could have afforded the treatment, which costs $64,000 for two and a half years ($12,000 up front and $2,000 a month), he said.
Some drug and alcohol addicts are denied treatment because of an inability to pay, he said, but Francisco is now in a position to be able to determine if committed addicts without the ability to pay full fare are worthy of full or partial scholarships.
Not only did his time as a patient at Habilitat help him turn his life around, but through rigorous training he became a counselor. As director of admissions, he is completing the course work needed to be able to add “CSAC” after his name (certified substance abuse counselor).
“It’s been a long road,” said Francisco, adding that he especially wants to reach out to those in need on the Garden Isle.
“I have a soft spot for the people of Kaua‘i because I’m from Kaua‘i,” said Francisco, adding that he comes to Kaua‘i a couple times a year to conduct seminars at Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center and has a desire to help those who want to help themselves.
“I do all kinds of public-service work,” including leading seminars at several high schools on O‘ahu, and has done one for Kapa‘a High School peer-mediation students as well.
He is a Kaua‘i High School graduate whose daughter attends Kapa‘a High School. He said she used to watch him do drugs and see him under the influence when she was much younger.
“I can happily say she is a lot happier” now that he is straight, he said.
Habilitat is unique in that it receives no federal or state funds, sustained instead by fees paid by clients.
The agency also provides job and vocational training to clients, he said.
Not so long ago
Fifth Circuit Judge Clifford Nakea (who has since retired) in November 2002 gave Francisco the choice between prison and rehabilitation at his sentencing on drug and theft charges.
The catch was that the rehabilitation program had to be long-term, and he had to stay until he was clinically discharged.
“It was really a no-brainer. Treatment had to be better than jail,” he said.
He entered Habilitat the same month he was sentenced and has “been there ever since,” albeit on different terms.
“Habilitat is a program that utilizes the family or ‘‘ohana’ concept,” said Francisco.
“It is not your typical 12-step, religion-based treatment center. Habilitat chooses to focus on our moral and value system while teaching addicts how to make better choices and also how (to) take responsibility for their actions,” he said.
It is a 30-month program of behavioral modification and vocational training, he said.
“It addresses drug addiction in an unconventional manner. Habilitat does not teach that addiction is a ‘disease;’ actually they teach quite the opposite.
“Addiction is a choice,” he said. “Once I was able to grasp that it was a choice that I was making every day to use drugs and get high, I was able to for the first time in life (to) take control of the direction of my life. No longer was I a prisoner to addiction,” he said.
“I was able to identify my behavior pattern and poor thinking process and then I was put into a position to change the way I think and act. Habilitat was the most difficult thing that I have ever had to do in my life,” Francisco said.
“It’s not easy. You can’t do whatever you want whenever you want. There are rules that you have to follow, thousands of them. When you break them, there are consequences,” he said.
“I attended and completed the longest and hardest drug rehabilitation program in the nation,” he said in an e-mail.
Deciding to stay put
“I then, after four years of residency in this drug program (two and a half years in intense treatment and two years in a rigorous staff-training position) became a substance-abuse counselor and worked my way up the ladder to the position I now hold as the director of admissions,” he said.
“I have worked really hard to change my life, earn the love, respect and trust back from my family and friends. I have devoted my life since my enrollment into the Habilitat Treatment Center on O‘ahu to helping others in the grip of addiction to break free and learn how to become respectful, responsible citizens of society.
Francisco said he decided to stay for many reasons.
“There really was nothing for me to go back to on Kaua‘i,” he said. “I had burned every bridge that I had there. I had my three beautiful children, but they were doing really well and I realized that I was going to have to earn the privilege to be a part of their lives.
“Besides, if I relapsed I was going to (do) more damage to them than good. Realistically I had nothing to offer them at the time,” he said.
“The job market on Kaua‘i is very limited and I had no real skill set that could provide me the income that I would need to support myself and my children,” he said, adding that the single biggest reason for staying on O‘ahu and in the program was because “I felt like I was making a difference in people’s lives.”
Plus, he said, “All of my drug buddies lived and ran around on Kaua‘i. If I went home, my chances of relapsing grew exponentially.”
‘Found my
niche in life’
“I felt like I had found my niche in life. I was helping others instead of hurting them. For the first time in a long time I felt good about myself and what I was doing,” he said.
“I finally graduated on Sept. 1, 2006, after almost five years of residency at Habilitat. I was offered a job in our intake department (as) a case worker.”
From there, Francisco went on to become the admissions director.
“I have seen both sides of addiction,” he said. “I have been at the very bottom of the barrel. I know what it’s like to be so down and out that you can’t even begin to imagine digging yourself out.
“I know that with hard work, sacrifice, commitment and the help of others there is a way to get your life back. Everyone is looking for the easy way out of addiction.
“Don’t get me wrong, treatment is treatment and any treatment is better than no treatment, but you’re not going to fix years and years of bad habits in 30 days, 60 days or even 90 days.
“All we require is that you have the honest desire to want to change your life and the willingness to do something about it,” he said.
“Habilitat has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it has helped me to earn my life back and taught me to be a responsible, law-abiding member of society.”
