2009-11-06 TMALA MOHALA - Laserfiche WebLink

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WOODWARD: All right. Any further questions? Commissioner Ogata. OGATA: Can you, I know you gave a very brief overview of your program and your facility. Can you talk a little bit more about the target population? And then you mentioned, oh okay, well, just start there. I have a few more questions. MCKINNEY: Sure. Our students are typically 13 to 17 years old. They come from the mainland, mostly; and that’s because the idea is to bring a student into a place that they’re not real familiar with, kind of a different environment in which to start anew. They’re usually, they’re all screened. They’re referred to us by referring professionals, either therapists, or educational consultants. And they basically determine what program is best fit for a student and then they will refer them to us. The program works on just some basic concepts: reflection of the self, an awareness of what’s kind of going on around you, and being able to express yourself appropriately, you know, the gardening. We’ve come from, I’ve worked in Utah and Idaho where they have programs that are bit more geared towards survival and wilderness therapy. And we started this program because here in Hawaii, because we wanted a softer, gentler approach to working with kids.It’s not about scaring them, it’s not about putting them in really awful situations and requiring them to navigate around it with a smile on their face. The gardening has been, it was not something we initially planned; and for better or for worse this might be part of our problem. But we fell in love with the farming and the gardening and the metaphors for the kids. It was just something that I had never seen before. And the way they embrace the plants and the way that the metaphors are gentle and the way they can connect with the earth and see how they can grow parallel to what’s growing in the land, it’s just unbelievable. The climate here is safe and welcoming; and I think it inspires reflection. So we’ve really kind of started something that’s actually, we’re the only one in the country. And so that’s why it’s very hard even in our own industry for people to kind of understand what we do. I know it has been very difficult for us to understand and to be able to convey that to people that don’t necessarily have any background in what we do. They’re usually there for about 60 days and then typically they go home, maybe to another therapeutic environment or to a boarding school. And if there’s anything I’m missing, please feel free -. OGATA: Okay. No, that actually was a much better description of what, or giving me a better picture of what exactly is happening there. My other question is you often refer to these clients, or whatever you may call them, as students, so is there an educational program for them? MCKINNEY: And that’s a good point. We don’t actually call them students officially. We will at times either use distance learning programs to work with the kids. Often these kids are coming and academics are not the priority. However, some families really want that to be a priority. So we either can work with a distance learning program or we will often kind of continue the academics that their present schools have. But, again, it’s a small, very small piece of the program. WOODWARD: Any further questions? Brandon, do you have a comment? 12 EXHIBIT B