Boys’ ‘safe house’ in plans

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WAILUKU - The state Department of Human Services plans to build a residential shelter for "at-risk" boys in Wailuku to open early next year.

The project, called Ke Kama Pono, would be an eight-bed shelter near the bottom of Wells Street, behind the Wailuku Fire Station and across from Wells Park. It is fully approved to begin construction.

Work should be complete by the end of October under an accelerated schedule, with the program set to open in January. The facility would serve boys ages 13 to 17 who are nonviolent but considered at risk of future incarceration.

"It will be primarily runaways, truants, those kinds of kids with minor problems who we want to divert from more severe problems in the future," said Scott Ray, project manager with the department.

The Salvation Army won a bid to run the program.

The shelter would have 24-hour staffing, and the youths would be educated on the site. It also would include substance abuse prevention services, life skills classes and behavioral programs, mental health treatment and family therapy.

"That's one of the reasons we want this facility on Maui," Ray said. "We don't want Maui youth to be sent to other islands where they can't be visited or have therapeutic work with their families."

Youths with serious substance abuse issues would be sent to other facilities where they could receive intensive treatment, he added.

Ke Kama Pono "safe houses" are being set up under a 2004 initiative by Gov. Linda Lingle, after six girls had to be sent to a care home in Utah because of a lack of facilities in Hawaii. The homes are intended to provide a rehabilitative environment as an alternative to more institutional settings. They include security features, but are not detention centers, Ray said.

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands owns the 6,500-square-foot lot.

The project's construction budget is $800,000, which is 90 percent funded by the Department of Justice. Operations for the program are budgeted at $750,000 for the year, with a potential 15 percent to 35 percent federal reimbursement.

Ray said the project's "severe time schedule" is to qualify for the federal funds, but he was confident the deadlines would be met.

While the safe house will be located within walking distance of Iao Intermediate School, Ray said it should not be a concern for parents.

"These are kids with problems, but they're not dangerous kids," he said. "If they were dangerous, they'd be sent somewhere else."

* Ilima Loomis can be reached at iloomis@mauinews.com.