LIHU‘E — It’s the type of culturally based restorative justice program that Kaua‘i County Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho has wanted to start since she took office in 1998. Project POHAKU (Productive Optimism Helps All Kaua‘i Unite) is now in place
LIHU‘E — It’s the type of culturally based restorative justice program that Kaua‘i County Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho has wanted to start since she took office in 1998.
Project POHAKU (Productive Optimism Helps All Kaua‘i Unite) is now in place as the first comprehensive diversion program of its kind to incorporate cultural-based education and community service projects, as well as restitution for participants who would otherwise face a conviction, incarceration, probation and a criminal record, she said.
POHAKU offers an incentive for defendants to embrace the spirit of restorative justice. The goal is to involve defendants in community service in a way that benefits the victim and themselves.
“I see this as an opportunity to learn,” Iseri-Carvalho said.
POHAKU is designed to reduce the backlog of hearings, incarcerations and, hopefully, recidivism. With fewer people going through the system, the county saves scarce funds. It sustains itself with participant fees and through partnerships between the county, community organizations and volunteers.
“Our goal is to try to reduce the amount of cases going through district court by 10 percent,” she said. “We believe that this program will handle that amount.”
At a time when community service staff and programs are being cut from county budgets, crime rates are going up, Iseri-Carvalho said.
The new program is fiscally responsible, less punitive and produces better results than a lengthy court process that creates a disconnect between crime and consequence, she said.
It costs about $170 per day, or $51,000 a year, to incarcerate a prisoner, according to Iseri-Carvalho. Hawai‘i is also sending some prisoners to Kentucky and Arizona, where it costs less than $37,000 a year. She said nonviolent offenders need a social justice formula and that does not mix them with high-risk offenders — a recipe for recidivism, she added.
“Placing person in jail should be last option, except for violent offenses,” she said.
The prosecutor determines case eligibility for participation and offers the voluntary program to the defendant, who has the option for trial or to admit guilt, accept responsibility for the offense, comply with community service, offer restitution to the victim and take the classes. If they remain compliant, the case is dismissed and removed from their record.
“We look at the facts of the case, contact the victims and, if they want them to go through the normal court process for the offense, then it is not referred,” she said. “It doesn’t mean that all cases are referred, and screening of individuals is on a case-by-case basis.”
Iseri-Carvalho believes a flaw of the standard community service model is when an offender is typically assigned work based on their residence. POHAKU places them in the community where the offense occurred and with work related to the crime for restitution.
If the offense was spraying graffiti at Kilauea Beach, for example, then she said it would be to appropriate clean up that beach in order to give back to that community. Part of the cultural component would be to help clean up cultural and historical sites around the island.
Iseri-Carvalho said she expects that senior citizens will be a big part of the community service component. This is partly because seniors vulnerable and the target of crimes from robbery to physical abuse or financial scams. The program will also include elders in the cultural component.
In addition to community work, there will be opportunities to develop skills and learn about Hawaiian culture. Whether its learning traditional methods of catching fish, cooking, the significance of poi or traditional medicines, the idea is to make a connection with the culture.
The first concern was to ensure adequate monitoring at various work sites. The second concern was to establish a relationship between the offense and the community service program. The third concern was to develop a plan for skill building and a cultural component to instill the idea of restorative justice.
The program is named for the pohaku, a poi-pounding stone that was used by ancestors on Kaua‘i. The word has other root meanings as a “spiritual coach” that helps people revive a sense of appreciation and respect for the earth, for others and themselves in the Huna system.
The classes are a blend of social science and culture that emphasize 12 Hawaiian values of aloha, alaka‘i, hanohano, ho‘omau, ho‘ohiki, ho‘oheno, po‘okela, kokua, kuleana, kupono, lokahi, and laulima. The class utilizes “ho‘oponopono,” the act of accepting responsibility for actions in order to begin the path to self-forgiveness and to understand what can and cannot be changed in life.
Personal inventories touch on topics from poverty, family influence and social pressures to psychological disorders and addiction. The exercises cover values, attitudes and environment to ideals of honesty respect and what it means to be law abiding and social.
The conflict resolution component teaches listening and communication skills. The class illustrates how people don’t always see their options and that external forces sometimes influence a bad and sometimes criminal decision.
The class covers addiction issues from the physical and psychological effects on the body, to the antisocial aspects of long-term use of illicit or prescription drugs and alcohol and its impact on decision making.
Other county diversionary programs include Teen Court for first-time juvenile offenders; the Mental Health program for nonviolent crimes and HOPE Probation for some drug users.
