Isenberg site selected

LIHU‘E — Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. announced Tuesday night at the end of a packed meeting that the county has selected a site for a youth drug treatment center on Kaua‘i.

After proposing two Lihu‘e locations earlier this year and holding a series of public meetings, the county decided on the site behind the former Immaculate Conception School. The parcel is located behind Isenberg Park, the church being situated between the site and the neighborhood.

The next step in the process, which could be a few years before breaking ground, is an environmental review, county spokeswoman Mary Daubert said Wednesday.

“The permitting process will allow for a lot of continued public input,” Beth Tokioka, the mayor’s executive assistant, said Wednesday. “As the mayor said in his comments, we hope we can work with that community and instead of focusing on the potential negatives, focus on the center as something we can be proud of and embrace in the community.”

More than 300 concerned community members packed the Lihu‘e Neighborhood Center Tuesday evening to discuss the county’s controversial siting of an in-resident youth drug treatment center.

While there appears to be a general consensus in the community that a drug treatment center is long overdue, there has been a discord over where to build it.

Theresa Koki, Kaua‘i anti-drug coordinator, provided an overview of similar centers on other islands, emphasizing that youth are working in the community in addition to their regimen of physical fitness and classes. Eight experts on teen drug addiction programs were also on hand to explain the process of a proposed center were it to be developed on land near Isenberg Park.

The mayor said all points of view should be respected, but the starting point must be an agreement that illegal drug use and underage drinking is a “huge problem and we need to do something about it.”

Carvalho said the planning process values the concerns about public safety, operations and community impact but he said a location must be identified. The mayor’s staff has compiled feedback and he said they have the information needed to move forward on a decision to locate and operate a drug treatment center on Kaua‘i.

“The research staff are all trying to do what is best for us all,” he added.

The event was facilitated by Ka‘ala Souza, who proved adept at restating potentially confrontational questions to get to the point. He said that when people speak on a sensitive topic in an emotionally charged setting the words don’t always come out the way they were intended.

Why Isenberg?

Souza directed a community question to each of the panelists. The central question of “Why the Isenberg site?” was directed toward John Isobe, executive assistant to the mayor.

Isobe said that to identify a site does not make it final, but it is the required first step. The Isenberg site passed preliminary criteria to ensure feasibility, he said, but it would go through a very transparent process lasting up to three years and requiring public input along the way before ever breaking ground.

“It is the tip of the iceberg,” Isobe said.

A site location would need to be three to five flat acres within proximity to infrastructure and in a central location near support services, he added. It would also require subdivisions around the central site.

Isobe said the next step is to hire an independent consultant to put together an environmental assessment. It would determine if there is adequate sources for funding, design and potential issues with construction, licensing, economic viability, environmental impact and social concerns.

The study would determine whether the project is economically feasible and self-sustaining before going through the permit process to assess land use and zoning concerns. It would be open for public review and comment, and if approved a public permit and licensing process would begin, and it could be 2014 before ever breaking ground.

Why not put it in

a remote area?

The question of “Why are you siting this facility so close to a neighborhood and not in a remote area?” was directed to Dr. Gerald McKenna, medical director of the McKenna Recovery Center in Lihu‘e. He replied that to have it in the community is consistent with the spirit of Kaua‘i.

Teenagers going through treatment are sick, vulnerable and impressionable, McKenna said. They need a community setting, not isolation.

There is a variety of treatments and each depends on the individual assessments, he added. The severe cases require hospital or institutional settings, and some manage with intensive outpatient programs. The residential centers offer an option to place youth in a supportive but controlled environment.

“A lot of these kids need parenting and need a model of other stable families and neighborhoods to get an idea of what a stable life is like,” McKenna said. “There is no perfect answer; people will be afraid.”

McKenna said that neighborhoods with treatment centers are safer with more police presence and neighbors quick to report anything. He said this keeps drugs and crime away and only helps the success of the program.

To answer a question asked later about whether such a center would be self-sustaining, or is it doomed to close like one on Maui, McKenna said it is not feasible to operate on county money alone, and a combination of sources including private insurance and grants is necessary.

Is it safe in a neighborhood?

The question of “how can the safety of the neighborhood be assured?” was posed to Dr. Steven Zuniga, a psychiatrist and CEO of Big Island Substance Abuse Council. He said that in his 32 years of adolescent treatment there has not been a problem in a properly run facility.

Kaua‘i Police Chief Darryl Perry added that youth who complete a residential treatment program are more stable than drug offenders who do not. He later noted that when government budgets are tight the social programs are often first on the chopping block. Without these programs, he said teen drug offenders wind up in the courts and corrections — still paid for by taxpayers but with a less desirable outcome.

“When we say ‘what is the cost?’, shame on us if we don’t provide the finances to keep our children from going through the system,” the chief said.

David Hipp, director of the Hawai‘i Youth Correctional Facility, was pointed out in the audience to respond to a similar question. He said that residential treatment and corrections are different in their approach to rehabilitation. Hipp added that corrections facilities are spending about $130,000 a year on each youth detainee.

The question “What will be impact to the community?” was directed to Ed Gomes, a retired firefighter and Pacific regional coordinator of the Hawai‘i Meth Center. He said teen drug and alcohol use is present in every community, and that a treatment center “would be an island of prevention.”

The question, “What will it look like? What will happen there?” was directed to Dr. Blossom Fonoimoana, clinical director of the Bobby Benson Treatment Center, who said the center would be run by an agency and work in conjunction with partnering organizations. The staff are credentialed professionals. The center would be gated to keep the drugs out and near police, hospital and schools.

Madeleine Hiraga Nuccio, branch chief, Kaua‘i Family Guidance Center, said it is important for teens to be working with families, churches and other community programs that would not be possible in isolation. The youth would have a healthier transfer back into a community setting with new talents and behaviors.

The question of “Who will operate the facility and how with they be regulated?” was directed toward Aracelli Gonzalez, a certified adolescent counselor with the Kaua‘i Drug Court. She said the agency-run center would be a county-licensed facility, without really elaborating.

A later question asked if any one stood to profit from the center. Fonoimoana said it would have a board of directors and all the components required for oversight of a residential center and staff, to include therapists, counselors, step coordinators, teachers, cooks and medication consultants.

Other questions were of recidivism rates and impact. The replies from the panel quoted studies to show that three- to six-month stays in residential treatment in combination with vocational training produce more independent and law-abiding citizens that are less inclined to wind up in prison as adults.

Similar questions and responses emphasized the need to address prevention efforts for young children and treatment for teenagers as a better crime prevention strategy than expensive incarceration and destruction of families.

• Nathan Eagle, managing editor, contributed reporting to this story.