HELP FOR KIDS ON DRUGS IS COMING

The island's first drug-treatment facility for kids could be opened in
March.

That's the hope of Billy Kenoi, executive assistant to Mayor Harry Kim and
point man in Kim's war on ice.

Kenoi on Wednesday helped convince the County Council to accept $300,000 in
state money that would go toward building the rehab center.

"We're keeping our kids home," he said.

About 200 Big Island children leave the island each year to receive
residential drug treatment at Oahu and Maui facilities, according to state
Health Department records.

The county early next month will solicit proposals for the operation of an
adolescent facility with at least eight beds, Kenoi said, adding the
preferred size is 16 beds.

A smaller facility would be reserved for boys, he said, noting they are more
likely than girls to suffer from substance abuse.

The desire is for a Waimea or North Hawaii location, but the county will not
reject an attractive offer for a Hilo home, Kenoi said.

He previously said a Kohala site would give the kids greater access to a
traditional Hawaiian sailing program run out of Kawaihae Harbor. It also
would bridge the gap between Hilo and Kona.

The federal government has offered $300,000 a year for three years to help
run the center, Kenoi said, adding yearly operating expenses can run
$100,000 a bed.

Those prices worried North Kona Councilman Curtis Tyler, who cast the only
vote against accepting the state money.

"This is a very charged area in terms of liability, in terms of costs,"
Tyler said. "I do not feel comfortable moving the taxpayers into this realm
when it's already the responsibility of a state agency."

Noting the county has no experience in the field of adolescent drug
treatment, Tyler added the Health Department should provide that care.

"We're only facilitating this project," Kenoi said, noting the county will
not manage the treatment center.