DRUG COURT TREATMENT PLAN LAUNCHED ON KAUA'I

Kaua'i now has a drug court, an alternative to imprisonment for drug offenders
facing criminal charges, with treatment options and closer supervision by a
drug counselor and probation officer.

Kaua'i's drug court, set up by the state Judiciary, is the latest one to open
in the state. The system, unlike traditional prosecution, allows charges to be
dismissed if defendants successfully complete 18 months of counseling, drug
testing and possibly community service and job training.

"We are going to take the person and stop them from using drugs," said drug
court coordinator Alton Amimoto said at a hearing conducted by the joint
House-Senate Taskforce on Ice and Drug Abatement at the County of Kaua'i
Council Chambers, at the Historic County Building Monday, Aug. 11. Amimoto at
that hearing announced that the program has three clients with more being
referred.

The first drug court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 8 a.m.

Drug court will allow prosecutors and public defenders to refer clients who are
in need of treatment. Additionally, they will have time with judges regarding
their progress through the program on Kaua'i, Circuit Court Judge Clifford L.
Nakea.

Nakea estimated that in perhaps half of the cases he sees, drugs may play a
part. The difference between traditional criminal prosecution and drug court is
that judges will have frequent contact with defendants.

Accountability is hopefully the strongest motivation for the defendant, Nakea
said: "The judges see them as frequently as they need to be redirected and (as)
their course needs to be changed," Nakea said, adding that in other drug
courts, there has been no lag in sending a defendant straight to jail if they
do not comply with the drug court requirements, because the agreement a
defendant signs with drug court carries stricter requirements, Nakea said.

"(Judge Nakea) would be able to track the clients much more closely and be
personally familiarized with the person's status and able to put people in jail
for short periods of time should they violate certain rules. It's not
unexpected, but it's still not condoned. All the drug courts give so many
'chances' we bend over backward for the clients to succeed," Amimoto said in a
telephone interview conducted Tuesday.

"What we want to do is have them focus on their basic thoughts about what
causes them to react a certain way, what presses them to seek out drugs,"
Amimoto said.

Kaua'i's drug court is set up to handle 20 clients, but the number may be
expanded as the program continues. Amimoto worked as a district court probation
officer for 10 years and victim counselor in the Kaua'i County Prosecutor's
Office for five years. Since 2002, he has been researching drug courts in
Hawai'i and in other states. Kaua'i is the last drug court to be set up in the
state, and is the only neighbor island program to employ an on-site substance
abuse counselor who will be in charge of organizing individual and group
counseling sessions.

Legislators two years ago set aside seed money to the state Judiciary to start
drug courts, Amimoto said. He added that interested citizens are forming a
non-profit agency to assist the drug court.

Early on, finding a substance abuse counselor certified by the state department
of health was a problem, largely because private practice pays more, said
Amimoto. This June they hired Araceli Gonzalez, a Kaua'i resident for 18 years
and a CSAC who was working with Dr. Gerald McKenna, CEO of Kaua'i private
treatment center Ke Ala Pono. Former family court probation officer Kimberly
Nonaka was hired in June. The staff also includes clerk Tammy Kakutani. Last
month an office was constructed in the ground floor of the Lihu'e courthouse,
in a space that formerly housed the state Department of Accounting and General
Services.

Amimoto said he is finalizing partnerships with state and local agencies that
will be able to help their clients, such as WorkWise, The Kaua'i Bus and Adult
Education.

"We would work much closer with these agencies because our caseload will be
much lower than the average probation caseload," Amimoto said.

As far as the cost-effectiveness of drug court, Amimoto said, "it's cheaper to
have a person on supervision than it is to have them locked up. The services in
prison are limited. There's no reason why a person wanting to move on with
their lives wouldn't want to go to drug court."

"Everybody needs different treatment options, and I have spoken to some in the
faith-based field. It's not a 'one treatment fits all' thing…Every person that
comes in will have unique needs and we'll try to have much closer relationships
with agencies than probation (the Judiciary's Adult Probation Division) does."

Referrals may also come from Adult Probation for probationers who were found to
be in violation by doing drugs or being arrested.

"We do not want to have referrals of people that sell drugs. We would want the
'standard' drug user," Amimoto said. At a first appearance in court, the
prosecutor can agree that the person meets the basic criteria to come through
drug court, or can be prosecuted through the regular system.

A one-month screening period will "weed out" applicants who don't meet the
strict criteria or who aren't eligible. Drug testing and interviews are
conducted. Drug court has already denied one applicant.

The program starts off with intensive supervision and counseling and tapers off
after about 18 months. All sessions are conducted at the courthouse in Lihu'e,
though other space may become available in the future.

The first phase includes 3-4 months of intensive outpatient treatment, meaning
each week, a person must attend three group meetings with the drug court's
substance abuse counselor, five individual counseling sessions, seven 12-step
meetings and complete three to five urine analysis screenings.

The second phase is 10-12 months long, and each week includes four individual
counseling sessions, three group sessions, five 12-step meetings and at two to
four drug screenings. The last phase of the program, about 3 months, allows
clients to be more independent, with individual counseling twice a week, one
weekly group session, four 12-step meetings per week and at least one drug
screening per week.

"They have to meet certain criteria to move onto the next phase. If they
violate, they can be subject to repeating the phase or moving backwards,"
Amimoto said.

"You cannot work until you're stable. You can't deal with your family until you
can help yourself first," Amimoto addressed issues such as holding a job or
caretaking children while in the drug court program.

Nakea, Amimoto and representatives of the Kaua'i prosecutor's office and state
public defender visited O'ahu's Drug Court judge and social workers, and have
gone to a week-long training session for the National Judicial College in Reno,
Nev.