Leah Castro, 31, was a ward at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility back in her teens, in the days when the guards would egg the kids on to fight it out and abuse was common.

She returned last week for the blessing of the front wing of the house where she once was confined, in the hills above Kailua. Three cells had been transformed by volunteers from the Junior League of Honolulu into a Family Center: a cozy living area, small dining room and recreation space.

“What Warden (HYCF Administrator Mark Patterson) did at the women’s prison is what he’s doing here,” she said. “He’s all about family.”

The adjoining house is now Patterson’s residence. Its renovated front section will be used for meetings between family members and incarcerated youth who are about to transition back into the community. Hale Kipa leads that effort to provide “wraparound services” as youth exit the facility.

“We would love to work with them from the beginning,” said Charlotte Kamauoha, wraparound program coordinator for Hale Kipa. “We catch them at the end.”

A feasibility study Patterson commissioned in 2015 sketches out a new direction for HYCF as the “Kawailoa Youth & Family Wellness Center.” It explores a range of possibilities for the unused buildings and amenities scattered on the 400-plus acres that house the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility.

The first item on Patterson’s agenda is to work with Hale Kipa in hopes of transforming one building into a crisis shelter and assessment center for minors who may be at risk of or victims of sex trafficking.

Another project under consideration is a shelter for homeless “youth,”ages 18 to 24. Patterson defines youth broadly, based on national research that shows brains don’t fully mature until the mid-20s.

“We are focusing part of our master plan on 18- to 24-year-olds,” he said. “These are children that age out of the foster care system, the criminal justice system. Most of them have touched the criminal justice system, but when they reach 18, everything stops. Now they got nothing.”

He would also like to develop a sports center for the Windward community, opening up the now-idle swimming pool and baseball field to local groups.

In May, Patterson was honored as the State Manager of the Year for his efforts to create a “puuhonua,” or place of sanctuary and healing for Hawaii’s troubled youth.

“Mark has made impressive inroads in looking at expanding opportunities to serve many of these youth who are not really going down that incarceration route but still are at risk,” said Merton Chinen, director of the Office of Youth Services.

The mother of an incarcerated boy expressed her appreciation for the Family Center, another Patterson initiative, at the blessing last week.

“My oldest child is currently here at the facility for the second time, unfortunately — hopefully the last,” she said. “When he was initially here, he had been on the run for about a year or so.”

She remembers coming to the secured building after authorities found him, toting her 4-week-old and 2-year-old children. They met with her son in a sterile cement and metal room.

“Needless to say it was not conducive to trying to re-establish a relationship with a boy who was angry and confused, amongst other emotions,” she said.

It was a different scene when they returned recently to the Family Center as he neared his release date, to make plans for the transition back to family and community.

“It may seem like something very small, but to sit down and be able to have a meal with your child after two years is a very emotional, very mentally draining experience for both parent and child,” she said. “To do that in a setting that has a little bit more home to it is just so valuable. I want to thank the Junior League for investing in families like mine.”