Office of Youth Services (OYS)
Document Actions
“Children grow up in communities,
not programs.”
Judge Barry Stuart, Retired, Yukon Territories
- OYS Strategic Plan 2008-2013 Executive Summary
- Report to the Hawaii State Legislature on Act 281
- Legislative Reports
- 2010 Annual Report
The Office of Youth Services (OYS) was established by the Legislature in 1989 and administratively placed within the DHS. The OYS provides and coordinates a continuum of services and programs for youth-at-risk to prevent delinquency and reduce the incidence of recidivism. The OYS also strives to provide a clear sense of responsibility and accountably for all youth services in Hawaii. Although a core responsibility of the OYS is to manage and operate the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility (HYCF), the agency places great emphasis on providing and supporting “front end” prevention, diversion, and intervention services.
The OYS focuses on five programs that address youths’ needs from prevention to incarceration and aftercare.
- Youth Gang Response System (YGRS)
- Adolescent Diversion – Ho’okala
- Non-Residential and In-Community Services
- Community-based Residential Services
- Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility (HYCF)
YOUTH GANG RESPONSE SYSTEM (YGRS)
The YGRS was created to address youth gang behavior and related issues through a comprehensive and coordinated effort. The YGRS builds and maintains partnerships between public and private sector organizations to provide meaningful and positive opportunities for youth engaging in emerging or more serious gang behavior.
This statewide network of organizations meets regularly to foster the development of on –going strategies that incorporate the following critical elements: (1) law enforcement and gang intelligence; (2) information sharing; (3) training and community awareness; (4) school and community-based prevention and intervention programs; and (5) research and evaluation.
As a result of this collaborative effort, youth, schools, and communities benefit from a range of YGRS services that include school-based gang/violence prevention programs, community-based mobilization projects, gang awareness presentations and campaigns, truancy intervention services, community-based gang/delinquency intervention programs, anti-gang law enforcement sweeps, gang prevention/intervention training, gang-related informational forums, and on-going research on youth gang and delinquency trends. The YGRS is confident that, when working together, these programs are better able to plan and implement strategic approaches that empower youth to make healthy and responsible choices.
Select to read a report on Hawaii gangs
ADOLESCENT DIVERSION – HO`OKALA
Ho`okala, which means to “free or release,” is a statewide diversion program that the Juvenile Justice State Advisory Council and the OYS began in 1993 to ensure that juveniles are not secured inappropriately in police lock-up. The program was implemented to maintain compliance with three of the four federal mandates of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 1974, as amended.
Ho`okala provides status offenders and non-violent law violators who have been arrested and who would otherwise be securely confined in police lock-ups, with 24-hour access to immediate crisis intervention services, assessment services, referral services, and short-term case management services. The program provides one-to-one supervision (attendant care) for youth whose parents cannot be contacted, case management and/or access to emergency shelter services. Through these services, the program aims to divert juveniles from further involvement with the juvenile justice system and to provide immediate intervention at the point of arrest.
NON-RESIDENTIAL AND IN-COMMUNITY SERVICES
Non-residential and in-community services provide appropriate intervention and supportive services to youth who are experiencing behavioral, emotional, substance abuse, or adjustment problems while in the community. Youth who benefit from these services are those who may be at-risk for incarceration or further involvement in the juvenile justice system, or who are in transition from incarceration at the HYCF to the community. These services include assessment/diagnosis, intensive supervision, individual, group and family counseling, cognitive restructuring, anger management skill development, independent living, social skill building, self-concept development, alternative educational services, and substance abuse education. Family strengthening activities are also provided as part of an overall effort to successfully maintain the youth in their families.
COMMUNITY-BASED RESIDENTIAL SERVICES
Institutional care for the majority of our troubled, abused, and neglected youth is not appropriate. Youth who do not require secure confinement or institutional care are better served in a less restrictive environment that can provide individual and intensive services that are conducive to their growth and development. Less restrictive programs are often more cost -effective and better suited in fostering positive change in at-risk youth. Community-based residential programs allow youth in transition a unique opportunity to experience, in a safe and nurturing environment, many challenges they will face when living within a community.
The goal of residential services is to provide an environment in which youth are able to increase their resiliency and reduce their risk factors to the extent they are able to safely return to a more permanent living situation. Services are provided to assist youth by increasing their decision-making, social and independent living skills, and by increasing their commitment to learning and education as important factors in their lives. Residential programs are provided on all major islands and provide an opportunity for youth to remain on their respective island near family and other community support systems.
HAWAII YOUTH CORRECTIONAL FACILITY (HYCF)
The primary purpose of the HYCF is to provide safe and secure housing for the most violent and dangerous juvenile offenders who pose a threat to the community. The HYCF provides a variety of counseling, treatment, and educational services within the facility to aid in the redirection and rehabilitation of each ward. The programs conducted within the facility are intended to be a part of this effort to provide guidance and opportunities for positive changes in the behavior of the youth.
HYCF improvements currently being implemented:
- Improved parole/aftercare programs to reduce recidivism with greater focus on re-entry programs, employment, life skills and character-building activities
- Improved youth policy and grievance system to meet national juvenile corrections standards
- Improved due process system for parole revocation.
- Opened a new group home in October 2010 in Hawaii County that will divert non-violent youth from being sent to the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility (HYCF) on Oahu.
- Opened the Ke Kama Pono (Children of Promise) Safe House in Honokaa. The Safe House, operated by the Salvation Army, offers services such as counseling and drug abuse education to girls from 13 to 17 years of age as a community-based alternative to placement at HYCF.
