Amid Progress, Sick Leave Abuse Plagues Hawaii Juvenile Detention Home

Nanea Kalani/Civil Beat

Three years after a scathing report outlined "grave" shortcomings at Hawaii's juvenile detention home, the facility still suffers from chronic understaffing and sick leave abuse, according to a new assessment released this week.

But the report also notes many improvements made in how Hawaii's youth are confined.

"The current self-assessment shows the (juvenile detention facility) has made significant strides in remedying issues raised in the 2009 self-assessment report," the report states. "The 2009 self-assessment was a catalyst for improving the conditions of confinement."

The Hawaii State Judiciary commissioned both reports as part of a national program focused on identifying alternatives to juvenile detention. The assessment found that Hawaii's detention home conformed to the vast majority — 88 percent — of the program's standards.

Senior Family Court Judge R. Mark Browning said he felt the report was fair.

"I think at large, looking at it as a whole, we've made significant improvements," he told Civil Beat. "But there are definitely areas we'll be committed to working on."

"I think staffing is one area — making sure we get more staff," Browning said. "One of the bills we have up (before the Legislature) would increase the number of staff members."

The improvements cited in Monday's report are a far cry from a facility that Browning once described as unsafe and not therapeutic for kids. Youth are kept at the detention home — the only secure juvenile detention facility that serves youth statewide — for short sentences or if they are awaiting court hearings and cannot be released to their families for safety reasons.

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