Kauai Girls Court graduates 1st class

LIHUE — The first alumni of the Kauai Girls Court at the Fifth Circuit Court graduated Thursday.

Hawaii Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald praised the program’s first three alumni of Kauai Girls Court, which began in February 2015, for their hard work and offered his thanks to the people who made the Kauai Girls Court possible.

That list included Kauai Girls Court presiding Judge Trudy Senda, Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Randal Valenciano, the Girls Court team, Child and Family Services, and the many community partners who have supported the program.

“It is imperative that we, as a community, understand that girls have different needs, learn differently, and should be treated differently than their male counterparts in the criminal justice system,” Senda said. “The more intensive support, supervision, and services that the Girls Court is able to provide, is critical to helping these young women prepare for a successful future.”

Girls Court is the judiciary’s effort to stem the rising tide of female delinquency in Hawaii, where the proportion of female juvenile arrests has been significantly higher than the national average.

Hawaii launched one of the nation‘s first Girls Court models in 2004 on Oahu. Girls Court participants there have committed 88 percent fewer violations of the law, 98 percent fewer status offenses, and the number of runaways has decreased by 89 percent, according to a news release.

Girls Court provides gender-specific programs and services that more effectively target at-risk and delinquent girls. Girls Court works on a strength-based model to develop healthy relationships among the girls and their families, return the girls to school or appropriate educational programs, and introduce the participants to employment education and other opportunities in the community, the release said.