Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 5, 1 May 2011 — Embracing our at-risk youth [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Embracing our at-risk youth

This month's eolunm is written by Momi Cazimero. It originally ran in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on June 10, 2010. Ms. Caz,imero is a Big

lsland native and founder of Graphic House, the first woman-owned design firm in Honolulu. A community leader and advocate for the arts, she has devoted herself to the preser\>ation and perpetuation of Hawaiian culture. At-risk youth. Who is that? That could have been me. I onee asked my Aunty Esther if she thought I would have turned out to be

who I heeame, and she responded: "No. You had every reason to fail, but you didn't." In large measure, she was the reason I did not fail. But there are many at-risk youth who unfortunately did not grow up with an Aunty Esther in their lives. She nurtured and prodded me. She was caring, finn and loving; and she set high expectations. And when my Unele lim detected emotional overload in my voice he handed her the phone and brought her a chair. Hale Kipa, the Department of Human Services, Family Court and the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Division are just some of the agencies that rescue children and youth when their own families cannot provide them a safe haven or solace. I would like to think that society has moved beyond the time when domestic violence, abuse and other issues were considered private. When I grew up, speaking of family problems was considered "airing one's dirty laundry," whieh silenced victims and perpetuated further abuses. Victims felt - and were - isolated. Through our support of community programs, we encourage a sense of humanity that rejects the abuse of our youth, and also extends a helping hand to give them hope and help them assimilate into their communities and meet the

expectations of society. In the last 40 years, Hale Kipa has served over 40,000 youth in its community programs and more than

3,000 youth and famihes eaeh year. Hale Kipa, like the other community-based programs that service our youth (yes, OUR youth), face the potential broad brush that paints all community programs as dangerous based on an isolated incident or misleading media reports. Make no mistake: Hale Kipa adheres to the strictest regulatory standards and inspections. Muhiple audits, investigations and unannounced site visits are conducted by state regulators throughout the year. Hale Kipa

takes eaeh issue seriously because it does not want the at-risk youth to suffer the consequences. We cannot model aspirations in isolation. We cannot nurture through separation. We cannot teach values through rejection. We cannot promote inclusiveness by practicing exclusiveness. The problems our youth face cannot be resolved by transferring them out of our neighborhoods and at some future date magically returning them to our communities as model citizens. As a caring society, we must model and shape the characters we want to develop in our youth; provide them the education they need to succeed as functioning individuals; and rest assured that when our at-risk youth morph into adulthood, they will heeome model neighbors. The small, important steps taken by Hale Kipa today are predicated on reaching that goal. It is in our interest as a community that we all share in that goal, because with or without Hale Kipa, our at-risk youth will one day be adults. As an advisory member of Hale Kipa, I humbly ask that everyone continue to provide community-based programs the support they sorely need to help reshape the lives of our youth. The community as a whole must teach the values of aloha today, if we are to hve aloha tomorrow. ■

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