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A newly released feasibility study supports Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s push for a new residential drug treatment facility for adolescents on Kauai.
The study, which was conducted by Norma Doctor Sparks and Steve Sparks of Koloa-based Families First Hawaii Services Inc., cited high rates of alcohol abuse by adolescents on Kauai as part of its justification for a new center.
The authors noted that there was little information specific to drug and alcohol use by adolescents on Kauai, and the information that was available was dated. However, the authors emphasized that the existing data were still relevant and painted a clear picture of a population in need of additional resources.
In particular, the study cited 2003 data collected by the state Department of Health that showed 68.8 percent of Kauai adolescents drank regularly, compared with 66.5 percent of adolescents statewide, and that such drinking began at a median age of 14.
The study concluded that the County of Kauai should help to coordinate a continuum of services for Kauai adolescents and negotiate with the DOH for therapeutic bed slots. If such slots are available, the study argued, the county should establish a residential treatment and healing facility for Kauai male adolescents, particularly for 16- and 17-year-old males involved in the court system.
The study further advised that a pilot substance abuse treatment and healing facility based on a “therapeutic community model” be established.
Carvalho reiterated his support of such a facility, noting that he plans to select a preferred site by the end of the year.
