HONOLULU — Office of Youth Services Executive Director David Hipp, on a letter dated Friday to the Kaua‘i County Council, denies he had advised the county Office of Prosecuting Attorney to stop referring youth to Hale ‘Opio’s Kaua‘i Teen Court
HONOLULU — Office of Youth Services Executive Director David Hipp, on a letter dated Friday to the Kaua‘i County Council, denies he had advised the county Office of Prosecuting Attorney to stop referring youth to Hale ‘Opio’s Kaua‘i Teen Court program.
“At no time did I either advise or direct the Kaua‘i Office of the Prosecuting Attorney to cease referrals to Teen Court,” Hipp states in the letter.
County Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, however, said OYS Program Specialist Christopher Lum Lee did inform her of a potential procurement problem regarding Teen Court, which led OPA to cease deferrals.
Despite continuous communication with OYS, Iseri-Carvalho said she was not told she could continue with the program.
On his letter Friday, Hipp says that directing OPA to stop referrals to Teen Court would be contradictory to best practices in the field of juvenile justice. He said he emailed OPA on Aug. 2 requesting an update on the status of referrals to Teen Court and Juvenile Drug Court, as he was “very concerned” that youth were being affected due to lack of diversions. Additionally, Hipp said he has no statutory authority to direct any court or law enforcement officer in any matter.
“The (Prosecuting Attorney’s) Office was well aware of my position on Teen Court and my insistence on referrals being made both to Teen Court and Juvenile Drug Court, and that my position on the contract between the (Prosecuting Attorney) and Hale ‘Opio was that is was a valid one,” Hipp wrote on an email Tuesday to Council Chair Jay Furfaro.
At a council meeting Sept. 26, Councilman Mel Rapozo said he had heard for probably the third time that “Teen Court referrals was stopped because OYS directed the Prosecutor’s Office to stop the referrals.”
The council on Sept. 26 deferred by a 4-3 vote a decision on whether to allow OPA to apply for $35,000 in federal funds for Keiki POHAKU, a diversion program for youth. Council Vice Chair JoAnn Yukimura said at the same meeting that she supports well-crafted diversion programs, but not at the expense of a well-established program that has such a good track record.
The approval to apply for funds to Keiki POHAKU is back on the council’s agenda today.
No referrals
There has been no referrals to Teen Court for several months, according to Hale ‘Opio Executive Director Laverne Bishop.
“For reasons we have not been able to determine, the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney has unilaterally chosen to stop all referrals to Teen Court since last April,” Bishop states in a letter to the council Tuesday.
Bishop said in her letter that Iseri-Carvalho entered into new contract on April 16 with Hale ‘Opio for Teen Court, and on June 21 signed the notice to proceed.
“Since that time Hale ‘Opio placed calls and sent emails requesting to understand the matter of no referrals, given the seeming contradiction with the simultaneous contract and notice to proceed executed by Ms. Iseri-Carvalho, with no reply,” Bishop said in her letter.
According to Iseri-Carvalho, on April 10, OPA received an unsolicited legal opinion from the County Attorney’s Office questioning the legality of the OPA utilizing diversion programs. OPA then discontinued all referrals to diversion programs, including Drug Court, Teen Court POHAKU, and Mental Health Diversion, according to Iseri-Carvalho.
“We have yet to see or be advised of any such opinion,” Bishop states in her letter Tuesday.
On and off
On July 30, special counsel Gary Slovin issued an opinion that OPA has legal authority to make diversion program referrals. Iseri-Carvalho said Slovin was hired “to step into the shoes of the County Attorney” because of a conflict with OPA.
“As of that date, the OPA restarted referrals to Drug Court, Teen Court and Mental Health Diversion,” Iseri-Carvalho said in an email Tuesday, adding that POHAKU referrals were not restarted because of the “County Attorney’s continuous attacks.”
In August, two more referrals were made to Teen Court, until Iseri-Carvalho spoke with Lee, who informed her of the potential procurement problem.
“The Teen Court program, for decades, received the benefit of operating under a sole source contract, meaning that no other party had the opportunity to provide services,” Iseri-Carvalho said in an email. “We learned that in fact, in the state process, that Teen Court was required to participate in a competitive bid process.”
She said the issue was brought to the attention of the grants specialist assigned to oversee the Teen Court contract. He informed OPA that he believed that Teen Court was subject to a competitive bid process.
On Sept. 11, Lee sent OPA an email asking if any referrals had been made to Teen Court, according to Iseri-Carvalho, who said she responded on the same day via email that OPA still had the issue of Teen Court’s sole source contract with the county versus the Teen Court’s competitive bid contract with the State Judiciary. In that email, she asked Lee if the sole source of contract could be violating the procurement code, since he had indicated that there was a problem.
According to Iseri-Carvalho, Lee’s answer was, “You’ll have to ask (the State Procurement Office) for an absolute answer but I can tell you with the HRS, the HAR and what I know for SPO so far … there is a violation.”
Hipp, on his email to Furfaro Tuesday, quoted the same email. But he also said he emphasized that Lee wrote, “I do also recall telling you that you’d have to talk to SPO to get an answer.”
Additionally, Hipp told Furfaro in an email that OPA is “well aware that Mr. Lum Lee is new, young employee with OYS who was simply trying to be thorough.”
Upon receiving Lee’s answer, Iseri-Carvalho said she responded by saying she had contacted the County Procurement Officer, who repeated there was no violation and he is the final determinator of procurement issues.
“I learned from Laverne (Bishop) that there was a referral as she has stated this to KPD. Given your understanding that this is a violation, I will halt all referrals to Teen Court until I get verification from SPO that it’s legal to proceed,” Iseri-Carvalho said she wrote back on an email to Lee.
On Tuesday, she said she called Hipp, when she learned for the first time that he disagreed with Lee’s advice that there is a procurement problem.
Diversion programs
Kaua‘i Teen Court is a diversion program offered by Hale ‘Opio Kaua‘i for first-time misdemeanor or status-offending youth between the ages of 10 and 18, according to the Hale ‘Opio website. The program is a collaborative effort between Hale ‘Opio, OPA, Kaua‘i Police Department, Office of the Mayor, 5th Circuit Court and other public and private agencies.
Hale ‘Opio is a nonprofit organization that serves youth and families on the island since 1975. Bishop said in her letter that in the past 10 years, 2,113 youth have participated in the Teen Court program.
Hipp said he fully supports Hale ‘Opio’s Teen Court program, but there are eligibility requirements. When OPA approached him about establishing a diversion program for youth that may not meet Teen Court’s eligibility requirements, he was “very interested,” Hipp states on his letter Friday.
“Having several diversion options is certainly in the best interests of not only law enforcement and the courts, but for our at-risk youth and their families,” Hipp states on his letter Friday.
Bishop on her letter Tuesday, said that according to a memorandum of understanding signed and edited by Iseri-Carvalho, status offenders are to be referred to Teen Court directly from KPD, and referrals of other arrests, including youth arrested multiple times, are to be made by OPA.
If the county opts to redirect its Juvenile Accountability Block Grant funds away from Teen Court, OYS will likely, depending on availability of funds, issue a request for proposal for a Kaua‘i Teen Court program, as OYS feels there is value in such program, Hipp states. Iseri-Carvalho said it has always been OPA’s position that Teen Court is a valuable program for the keiki, but also that it is a limited program that only address a small amount of juveniles.
“The Keiki POHAKU program was intended to expand the scope of services available to at-risk youth,” she said. “It has always been this department’s mission and strategic plan to provide a full spectrum of diversionary programs.”
The council will entertain OPA’s request to apply for Keiki POHAKU funds at the meeting starting at 9 a.m. today at the Historic County Building. Visit www.kauai.gov for more information.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
