After 11 years of breaking the mold, the Kaua’i Community Correctional Center has gained the attention of National Geographic, which scheduled time this month to feature the prison’s progressive programs. A date for the feature to air has not been
After 11 years of breaking the mold, the Kaua’i Community Correctional Center has gained the attention of National Geographic, which scheduled time this month to feature the prison’s progressive programs.
A date for the feature to air has not been set, something a modest Warden Neal Wagatsuma is grateful for.
“Enough has been said about me already,” he said.
Recognition has become commonplace for Wagatsuma, who also gained statewide attention for his innovative rehabilitation methods that encourage inmates to reflect and reform.
The only program of its kind in the United States, the regimen, dubbed the Lifetime Stand program, has 60 of its 130 inmates voluntarily enrolled. Regardless of the degree of crime they committed, those involved in the program can earn the right to work off-site and out of uniform helping in the community, with supervision.
To document the process, National Geographic has scheduled a three-week stint on the island, for which inmates have signed model release forms, Wagatsuma said.
But what’s most important to Wagatsuma is that program continues to move forward.
LTS incorporates four phases. The first is a military-style boot camp and the second consists of community service and therapeutic training. The third and fourth incorporate a work-release program and a promise from prisoners to live crime-free lives, respectively.
Sgt. Sia Salausa, who likens supervising LTS inmates to coaching football, teaches them Polynesian dance and aerobics. Aerobics, which includes hip-hop dance and modern jazz, is required every other day.
“You’re trying to get these kids ready to go back into society,” Salausa said. “A lot of them have come from broken homes.”
A typical day for those enrolled includes getting up at 5 a.m. and presenting a bed for inspection, just like in the military, Salausa said.
Then there is breakfast and a headcount, followed by what Salausa calls a “venting session.”
“We try to nip any problems in the bud,” he said. “At that time is when you bring up any hard feelings. After that, we assume everything is fine.”
The program hinges on inmates committing to their rehabilitation by finding the answers to questions such as, “What would people say about me if I died today?” and “Is evil real?” Questions that force inmates further than waxing poetic, but to discover who they are and why.
Eleanor Matsuda, a navigator to inmates in the program, knows firsthand why the program is so unique — she’s one of its graduates.
Matsuda took the program seriously after she was incarcerated in 1999 for drug dealing, and is now on her way to becoming a counselor.
“The warden helped me realize why we were there,” Matsuda said. “It wasn’t because of our crime, but because of something that happened in our life that made us turn to things for comfort to void the pain.”
Wagatsuma’s teachings also showed Matsuda that she had a choice not to continue her life as a criminal.
“His theory is to use your time to expose the truth and help other people,” she said. “And I have.”
Inmates also adopt 12 “commandments” that serve as a guideline and include rules such as “you shall support the less fortunate without malice, resentment or self-righteousness” and “you shall search for what is right and rebuke what is wrong.”
While the program is not meant to be religious, its discipline is infused with spiritual overtones without discriminating against different viewpoints, Wagatsuma said.
“I was always a rebel from the church,” Wagatsuma said. “I grew up Christian and explored a lot of different things, but felt part of it was too focused on doctrines.”
Because of that, inmates are expected to go beyond contemplation and take ownership for their actions.
“In prison, people can hide behind the Bible, and then when they get released, they throw the Bible away,” he said.
The hands-on process includes the four Rs: responsibility, remorse, resolve not to repeat a crime and repair by making amends.
Matsuda took to that approach, she said.
“You become part of a community and the ones that deal with the pain are the ones that are going to get through it,” Matsuda said.
• Amanda C. Gregg, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or agregg@kauaipubco.com.
