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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0010.008 2006-2008 Ovd . C~ -'(ti `~~<v or y Harry Kim Lawrence K. Mahuna Mayor Police Chief •~r, o~~"'~" Harry S. Kubojiri Deputy Polite Chief County of Hawaii POLICE DEPARTMENT 349 Kapiolani Street • Hilo, Hawaii 96720-3998 r, , (808) 935-3311 • Faz (808) 961-8869 ~ ; February 13, 2007 c:.i r.:. TO AN, COUNCIL CHAIR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS ~ FROM LAW ENCE K. MAHUNA, POLICE CHIEF -L SUBJECT FINAL REPORT Name of Grant Program: Pahoa Weed & Seed Federal or State Grantor: State Department of the Attorney General through the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) County Grantee DepartmenUAgency: County Police Department Grant No.: None Amount of Grant: $48,500.00 Amount of County Match: None County Revenue & Expenditures Acct 010.201.5216.20; 3305.46 Grant Period: January 1, 2005 -December 31, 2006 Goals: See attached. Objectives: See attached Outcomes: See attached ' Cnmm. hio. ~ ~ ' u R~3f. in:- 9dsf. mate _FEE ? 0 2047 "Hawai`i Coun[y is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer' This report was prepared by the Weed and Seed Coordinator Lon Brown. The report comprises of information relative to activities undertaken on the "Weed" side as well as the "Seed" side of the program. There are many agencies which participate in this program and helped to achieve the goals and objectives. The following are the agencies: Hawaii Police Department Office of Prosecuting Attorney U.S. Attorney's Office State of Hawaii Workforce Development Office State Department of Transportation Pahoa High & Intermediate School Keonepoko Elementary School Hawaii Academy of Arts & Science Charter School Nanawale Community Association (Safe Haven) Neighborhood Place of Puna Kokua Neighborhood Watch Kaohe Neighborhood Watch Friends of Pahoa Library Malama O Puna Puna Roundtable Puna Interfaith Alliance Main Street Pahoa Association Final Report Pahoa Act 40 Grant A. Provide a brief description of the Program. Overview and Drug and Violent Crime Activity The town of Pahoa suffers From a reputation of high crime, including regular violence and major drug operations. The propensity of violent, drug, and drug inspired crimes contributes to the district's image and has severely affected its economy, sending it into a plummeting downward spiral. The agricultural industry, which has served as the historical backbone of Pahoa's economy, is failing in Hawaii. While many of our communities have learned to diversify their economies and sprout fledgling industries, Pahoa has been unable to do so because of the density of crime there and its reputation for being a place where drugs are welcomed and crime and violence run unbridled. Pahoa has failed to attract investment or outside commerce. The small population and failing economy in Pahoa has made it difficult for members of the community to secure the drug treatment facilities and increases in police presence it needs. Pahoa also suffers from a lack of public transportation, housing and other amenities that most Americans take Tor granted. Pahoa's economy, educational system, and quality of life have been severely handicapped by the effects of crime. Because of the density of crime in the area many people in Pahoa have been afraid to venture out into their community or to leave their homes at night. There is a common perception in Pahoa that the legal response is slow and ineffectual and that they have been forsaken as a community and that the people in the community have forsaken their neighbors and forsaken themselves. All of this, however, has been slowly changing since the Pahoa community began to actively pursue official Weed and Seed designation. The people are beginning to Feel as though the government cares and are beginning to care about one another again. There has been an uprising in Pahoa, and for the first time, it seems as though it is the criminal who is running scared. Pervasiveness and Density of Crime The current state of crime in the Pahoa community can be summarized as follows: the Puna District, which composes only 21.0% of Hawaii County's population, is accountable for 30% of the county's murder and non-negligent manslaughter offenses, approximately 30% of its burglaries and robberies, and over 40% of the County's quality of life crimes. The Pahoa community is located in the geographical heart of the Puna District and serves as the retail and business center of the area. Avast majority of Puna's crimes occur in, or revolve around Pahoa, and because Pahoa is the underlying metropolis of this rural district, it can safely be assumed that many of the district's crimes occur in or around Pahoa town (HCPD 2002). The frequency, density, and pervasiveness of crime in Pahoa are frightening, violent crime and drug related crime in particular are severe detriments to the people of Pahoa and its surrounding areas. Pahoa currently lacks the law enforcement resources to address the gamut of problems associated with such high occurrences of crime. Prevalence of Drues and Their Effects A great majority of the crimes that occur in the Pahoa area are directly linked to the prevalence of drugs within the community. Pahoa has always served as a symbol for a municipality of drug use and trafficking; being agricultural in nature, Pahoa was once a premiere location for the cultivation and marketing of marijuana. However, due to the successful efforts of state and federal cohorts, marijuana has been dramatically reduced in Pahoa. Unfortunately, crack, cocaine, and methamphetamine ("ice") are now widely used and highly available in Pahoa. These "new drugs," carry with them a breadth of burdens all their own. Operation Weed and Seed The Hawaii County Weed and Seed project received official recognition from the federal Executive Office of Weed and Seed in October 2004. In seeking Weed and Seed designation, members of the Pahoa community met with their government officials and representatives From the private sector. Talks were held and assessments were done. The community is mobilized and has joined forces with government and the private sector to put the Weed and Seed strategy into full action to improve the quality of life in Pahoa. This grant proposal is seeking funding to retain afull-time project Coordinator, to support law enforcement efforts, to implement crime prevention and education strategies and to beautify and restore the area. B. List each goal and objective, and describe the progress made towards achieving each of them. GOAL 1: Strengthen and develop partnerships between the community and local law enforcement agencies in order to give the community the support and leveraging required of their efforts to police themselves and their neighbors. OBJECTIVES: - Develop amulti-year strategic plan that focuses on crime prevention and reduction in the Pahoa community. o We have retained a full time Site Coordinator for the Pahoa Weed and Seed project. The Site Coordinator has been in place since April 15 2005. o We have coordinated a strategic planning session among community, business, government and service providers in the area. The participants are listed in the Official Recognition Application, as are the dates and times of the meetings. o We have developed an action plan to implement strategic plan. This action plan is itemized in the Official Recognition application. LAW ENFORCEMENT GOAL 2: Reduce visible criminal activity in the designated site. OBJECTIVES: - Increase police resources to have consistent coverage in the designated site. • We have not been able to do more than intermittent foot patrols in the site but car patrols have increased significantly. • There have been several CRU operations in Pahoa resulting in over 20 arrests. • Two cases have resulted in geographic restrictions being placed on two problem individuals. • An experienced Community Oriented Prosecutor has been a strong force in the progress of the Pahoa Weed and Seed Project. He has worked to bridge the gap between the community and the entire law enforcement community. - Decrease visible criminal activity by 5% during project period. • A poll of the majority of the business operators along Pahoa Village Road resulted in their reporting that "Visible Crime" had decreased significantly. The average reduction reported by 47 of the 61 business operators polled was a 26% since Weed and Seed came to Pahoa. COMMUNITY POLICING GOAL 4: Reduce juvenile crime in the designated area. OBJECTNES: - Develop links with school system for prevention, early intervention and adjudication. • A School Resource Officer is well into the second school year at Pahoa Intermediate School. There have been arrests on campus over the length of this grant. The program has covered a wide range of activities from criminal arrests to enforcing truancy laws. • The Hawaii Police Deparhnent has joined with the students and the administration of the Pahoa High and Intermediate Schools complex and the Keonepoko Elementary (which is a feeder school for Pahoa High and Intermediate) to perform joint activities. • The Pahoa Weed and Seed Steering Committee, Youth Development Subcommittee and Youth Council have arranged and/or sponsored a number of events at the school and in the community to provide activities for youth. o The first Shattered Dreams presentation on the Island of Hawaii was presented at the Pahoa High and Intermediate Schools campus. The State Department of Transportation, HPD, the Prosecutor's Office, HFD, and over two dozen other agencies, community service organizations and businesses partnered with Pahoa High and Intermediate Schools to make this event a great success. o The 3`a annual Get High On Life Youth Fest was held on the Pahoa High and Intermediate Schools campus. Offering a broad choice ofafter-school activities from over a dozen service providers. A Project Safe Neighborhoods gun violence education video was presented to all students during the event. o The Youth Council using funding from the Councilperson's discretionary funds gave a Valentines Dance for youth from grades 6-12 at the Pahoa Schools cafeteria. This dance attracted over 300 youth. o The U.S. Attorney's Office arranged for Sam Choy to give a "life choices" talk and a cooking clinic to two assemblies and the Culinary Arts class at Pahoa High and Intermediate. U.S. Attorney Edward Kubo gave a talk on the dangers of Chrystal Methamphetamine and other drugs during the two assemblies. o A Wrestling Clinic/Tournament taught by coach John Robinson served over 60 youth ranging in age from approximately 6 to 40 years. Half a dozen coaches from the Island of Hawaii donated their time to assist. Half a dozen community service organizations, several businesses, four HPD Community Policing Officers and two Vice officers took part in this presentation. o The Pahoa High and Intermediate Schools Auto Shop was restored to operational condition via a $5000.00 donation, for hand tools, from the Councilperson's discretionary funds and the donation of refurbished lift and wheel alignment machine by a local business. o Installation of Security Cameras at the Pahoa High and Intermediate Schools campus. - Reduce recidivism of local offenders. - Partnership between Community Police Officers, community and school staff. GOAL 5: Increase participation/interest levels by community members and business owners/employees in crime prevention and/or problem solving endeavors. OBJECTNES: - Provide the community with crime prevention education. • Community Policing Officers often make crime prevention presentations to local Neighborhood Watch Programs. • The organization of Puna Watch has brought the leadership of Neighborhood Watches together with all of their Community Policing Officers in a monthly forum. Crime prevention education is presented to the leadership who can then take it back to their local watches. There have been more than a dozen of these meetings and they are planned to continue indefinitely. - Reestablish and improve existing neighborhood watch groups and encourage citizen's patrols. Puna Watch has resulted in citizens of several areas attending with the intention of starting or reestablishing Neighborhood Watches in their communities. The Community Policing Officers from their areas have made themselves available to provide training and guidance in coordinating the establishment of watches for these communities. - Increase community involvement in the problem solving processes that address the underlying causes to identify problems. • The Hawaii Police Department and the Community Oriented Prosecutor have given SARA training to over a dozen residents and continue to make the training available to all who wish to take it. PRE VENTION/INTERVENTION/TREATMENT GOAL 6: Reduce risks associated with family violence, substance abuse, crime, teen pregnancy, and educational deficiencies. OBJECTNES: - Plan for establishment of a centralized, multi-service community center (Safe Haven) for students and families. • The Safe Haven currently operating at Nanawale Estates and Pahoa High and Intermediate Schools will continue to be the venues for these programs in that the property values in the Pahoa site have risen to where purchase is not feasible. • Several memoranda of agreement have been secured and solicitation for more is continuing. • The resource assessment is completed and continues to be monitored and updated. - Provide support to grandparents who are responsible for the primary Gaze of their grandchildren. The respite program has been given over to a charter school operating outside the site. - Enhance the leadership capabilities and opportunities for youth in the community through active participation in programs and projects within the designated azea. The Youth Council has been established and accomplished 4 major projects but is currently on hiatus due to the closure of their meeting place for renovation and the resultant unavailability of the mentor. GOAL 7: Increase community involvement and awareness of special events, resources, needs and opportunities. OBJECTIVE: Develop venues where agencies, businesses, faith-based organizations and community members have the opportunity to partner and/or network. The PahoaWeedAndSeed.org web site is up and running, including the Resource Manual. NEIGHBORHOOD RESTORATION GOAL 8: Develop an integrated strategy to improve the physical appearance, infrastructure, design and function within the designated azea. OBJECTIVE: Increase community involvement in beautification activities. - The Hawaii Academy of Arts and Sciences has stepped up by conducting two street trash removals projects per yeaz. Pahoa Elementary School has brought their students out for a beautification & planting project. C. Describe the program activities to date. • The first annual Keonepoko Family Fun Fest was held on August 27, 2005 to bring family service groups together with the communities of Hawaiian Beaches and Hawaiian Shores. The Pahoa Weed and Seed Project and several of its partners had a presence at the festival as did nearly a dozen government and civic service groups. The Hawaii Police Department issued over 300 Keiki Id Cards. • The Kokua Pahoa Neighborhood Watch has been working with the police department to address the problems of drug sales and prostitution in Pahoa. the Ka'ohe Homesteads Community and Farm Watch has been working with the Site Coordinator and the Community Policing Officer to coordinate response to illegal hunting and trespass problems in the area. The watch has been collecting signatures of the property owners who do not allow hunting on their property. The watch is also keeping a log of suspect persons and vehicles. • A camera system and digital recording device have been installed. The video from this system is available to law enforcement over an Internet connection. The site coordinator has written a watch scheduling program for the use of the watch coordinators. Video and still from this camera system have resulted in at least five convictions in three cases. • The Friends of the Pahoa Library put on a book sale twice a year. These events are to raise funds for building a new library as well as improving the service at the Pahoa Public and School Library. • Worked with the Community Police Officers and residents to establish problem- solving mechanisms for identified issues (i.e., truancy, substance abuse, etc.) and act as a bridge between other governmental agencies and the community. The coordinator has been trained in SARA problem solving techniques and has put them to use in several azeas. The coordinator has helped to convene and facilitate two meetings with community members and police officers and maintained attendee lists and documented identified issues discussed. • The Hawaii Police Department and the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney have presented a SARA problem solving training course and made them available to all neighborhood watches in the area. The third Annual Get High on life festival was held in partnership with the Pahoa Intermediate and High Schools. This year will be a "Youth Fest". Funding from the County ofHawai`i and Project Safe Neighborhoods provided for the expenses of materials and prizes. There were over seven hundred students in attendance to learn about youth resources from the fine arts to job training within the site and the surrounding area. • The coordinator assisted in writing two grants which brought in over two thousand dollars to purchase supplies for the Kokua Pahoa Neighborhood Watch. • An interactive speaker's bureau listing is currently being built for the PahoaWeedAndSeed.org website. • An appeal to the Steering Committee of the Pahoa Weed and Seed Project led to the donation of $5,000.00 cash from the Councilperson's discretionary funds for the purchase of hand tools, the donation of a refurbished lift and an alignment machine from a local business. A further development led to the councilperson donating another $28,000.00 to install security cameras and monitoring systems at Pahoa High And Intermediate Schools. Installation was started in mid-December 2006. As further fallout of the initial request the school is now negotiating with the newly elected councilperson to obtain discretionary funds to help build a "Safe Bus Stop" project in front of the school. • Pahoa Weed and Seed, the Kokua Pahoa Neighborhood Watch and the Ka'ohe Homesteads Community and farm watch are participating in Puna Watch, a monthly meeting of the leadership of all of the Neighborhood Watches and their Community Policing Officers in the District of Puna which encompasses the site. • A community resource manual is available at the office of the Neighborhood Place of Puna and on the PahoaWeedAndSeed.org web site. This is a dynamic document which is being updated as service availability changes in area of the site. • The first of a planned series of Youth Council sponsored concerts was held at the Maku'u Farmers Market on July 8 2005. The Youth Council, worked with the producers, the Island of Hawaii YMCA, and the site proprietors to put on the concert. In all over 130 youth paid for attendance and nearly another hundred took part inputting on the event. • The 14~h annual "Heavy Metal" trash cleanup was held in along Apa`a Street and Ka`ohe Homesteads Road. Fourteen volunteers filled two 24 foot Matson Containers with dumped refrigerators (22), stoves(8), washers(6), driers(6), engine blocks, etc. Matson donated $1,000.00 each to the Friends of the Pahoa Library and Malama O Puna who organized the event as well as contributing the containers and their transport. (the 15`h annual Heavy Metal had to be cancelled because the County of Hawaii did the cleanup the week before ours was scheduled to occur. • The state Workforce Development Division, the Puna Roundtable, The Pahoa Weed and Seed Project, several paztner organizations, civic groups and government agencies worked together to bring the first annual Pahoa Job Fair to the Pahoa High and Intermediate Schools campus on February 11 2006. In total, 535 job applications were submitted to over twenty potential employers at this fair. The 2nd annual Pahoa Job Fair is scheduled for Februazy 10, 2007. • The Pahoa Weed and Seed Youth Council produced the Valentines Dance at the Pahoa High and Intermediate Schools Cafeteria in February 2006. Over 300 youth attended the dance. • The third and fourth Annual Springtime Jamms were held on a closed off portion of Pahoa Village Road and each brought over a thousand people to listen to free music, sample the wazes of Pahoa businesses and browse the crafts booths in the street. Live coverage by Eddie O of LAVA 105 during the 3`d annual Pahoa Springtime Jamm provided Pahoa with and the Participating businesses with island-wide advertising exposure. Lava 105 also made available a very affordable business community advertising package for the businesses of Pahoa. • The U.S. Attorney's Office, Sam Choy, the County Prosecutor's Office, our County Councilperson, KTA Markets and Pahoa High And Intermediate Schools collaborated to bring Sam Choy to PHIS for a pair of assemblies where the U.S. Attorney spoke on the dangers of drug use and Sam Choy spoke on life choices and opportunities in food service. • The Friends of the Pahoa Library, a Pahoa Weed and Seed Partner, invited Governor Lingle to the Pahoa Librazy to discuss their plans to build a new librazy for Pahoa and to request her assistance in key parts of the project. The governor had a meaningful discussion with the library board, several of Puna's elected officials, local community activists and members of the public. • Formation of the Puna Interfaith Alliance which comprises representatives from several faiths in the site and surrounding community. • The Junior Lifesaving program is continuing and will start a new series of sessions in January of 2007. With three sessions (winter, spring and fall) per year and approximately 30 youth per session the program is teaching 90 youth a year CPR, and water rescue skills. • A wrestling clinic and tournament on November 4 2006 brought together the Pahoa High and Intermediate schools, the Pahoa Weed and Seed Youth Committee, the Boys and Girls Club, the Hawaii Police Department Community Policing Officers, HPD Vice officers (drug recognition presentation), the PHIS wrestling team parents and wrestlers from schools of East Hawaii to take part in the event which served well over sixty wrestlers. • The Puna Interfaith Alliance produced apot-luck Lokahi Dinner for the Weed and Seed Community in December, serving over 30 persons. Billy Kenoi, Councilperson Emily Na'eole, Weed and Seed Committee chairs and the Site Coordinator all spoke to the group about the need for and the power of unity in the community. • The Puna Interfaith Alliance is currently embarking on a plan for building public showers in Pahoa to serve the homeless and the large portion of the surrounding sub-divisions who do not have potable water or water heaters in their homes. • The 23rd and 24`h Annual Pahoa Holiday Parades. Each parade had over 30 entrants representing government, business, faiths, community service organizations, schools and individuals. The parade is held in conjunction with the Pahoa School Complex Ho'o Lau Le'a which raises funds for school based activities. • The Coordinator assisted in the writing of three applications for CCDO funds. One award of $175,000.00 was made but due to the fiscal capacity of our fiscal agent the funds had to be refused and aze in the process ofbeing re-applied for with our new fiscal agent. Both the 2006 ($175,000.00) and 2007 ($200,000.00) CCDO grant applications are currently pending. D. Report performance indicators (a.k.a Project Evaluation) that document the accomplishment of the objectives. If this is the final report, describe how the project impacted /improved the criminal justice system. GOAL 1: - Multi-year strategic plan and action plan. • Date of draft plan October 14 2003 • Date of final plan June 1 2004 • Summary of plan The plan is a 5 year strategy for improving the standard of living in Pahoa Village and the Ka'ohe Homesteads. It creates a steering committee to perform strategic planning, a site coordinator position, a fiscal agent and a set of standing subcommittees to perform the work of implementing the strategy. GOAL 2: - Amount of visible criminal activity as determined by survey of businesses and community members. • A poll of the 61 business operators in the site elicited 47 responses to the questions "Has visible crime increased or decreased since the Weed and Seed Program came to Pahoa?" and "What would you say is the percentage of change?" The average of the 47 responses was that it has gone down 26%. • Conducted approximately 30 CRU/UC operations conducted targeting drug dealing, liquor violations, traffic violations and outstanding warrants. - Number ofdrug-related nuisance abatement actions and geographic restrictions. • There have been two geographic restrictions placed on problem offenders in the Village of Pahoa. GOAL 4: Reduction of on-campus crime. - We were unable to acquire the necessary statistical infonnation as there had been no baseline data collected prior to this project. It is sufficient to say that there have been two (2) officers that have served as the School Resource Officer at Pahoa High & Intermediate School. Between these two (2) officers they have been involved in 50+ school- related activities (i.e., Pahoa Grad Night, Shattered Dreams project, Homecoming Activities, etc.); have conducted in excess of 80 law- related counseling sessions involving students that were either referred to them or they had come upon during the school day; conducted approximately 151aw-related education sessions on topics such as substance abuse, traffic safety, juvenile laws, bullying, etc. These officers also initiated about 72 cases of which 57 involved the arrest of one or more student(s). Furthermore, they responded to roughly 60+ requests for assistance while on the campus. Youth participation level in community-wide activities. • The Pahoa Weed and Seed Youth Council has a membership of 12. These youth have planned and executed four major events since their inception. • The students of the Hawaii Academy Of Arts And Sciences have conducted four trash pickup weekends in Pahoa. • The Students of Pahoa Elementary took part in a beautification project of installing planters with attractive vegetation in front of businesses along Pahoa Village Road. • Pahoa High and Elementary Students took part in an anti-drunk driving DUI stop in front of their school. - Recidivism of local offenders. • We have no means of tracking recidivism at this time. GOAL 5: - Number of crime prevention education sessions held. • The local Neighborhood Watch meetings and the Puna Watch meetings have resulted in at least six crime prevention educational sessions. The topics have ranged from patrolling techniques to drug recognition presentations. - Number of community members and businesses participating in neighborhood watch/citizen patrol program • The amount of participants in the neighborhood watch program has ranged from 4 to 12 individuals. The number of participating businesses has been at most 3. The problem is, in part, due to the fact that many think the surveillance cameras are sufficient deterrence to preclude a neighborhood watch. We are continuing to work on recruitment. GOAL 6: - Funding plan development status. • The funding plan for a centralized multi-agency safe haven was dropped because property values escalated beyond our capabilities at this time. The two Safe Haven's we have in place are continuing to offer a broad range of services to the youth of the community but these services will remain in these locations for the foreseeable future. - Memorandum of agreements status. • We currently have memoranda of agreement with: The Office of the United States Attorney The Office of the Mayor The Hawaii Police Department The Friends of the Pahoa Library The Ka'ohe Homesteads Community and Farm Watch The Main Street Pahoa Association - Resource assessment of service providers. • The resource assessment of service providers available to the site is posted on the Pahoa Weed and Seed web site PahoaWeedAndSeed.org in the Resource Manual. - Establishment ofinter-faith respite program. • The interfaith respite program has been taken over by the Kua O Ka La charter school which is outside the site and has operated there for several months. - Number of grandparents receiving respite services. • We do not have statistics on the number of grandparents served. - Establishment of youth council. • The Pahoa Weed and Seed Youth Council was founded in mid- 2005 and is currently on hiatus pending the reopening of their meeting place in the Pahoa Neighborhood Facility - Number of youth receiving leadership training. • There have been over a dozen youth receiving leadership and responsibility training through the youth council. - Number of youth projects initiated. • The Pahoa Weed and Seed Youth Council has initiated a total of four projects, all of which notable successes. These events were: a Pool Bash serving over 100 youth; a rock concert which served over 200 youth; a Valentines Dance which served over 300 youth; participation in planning of and a recruiting presence at the Battle of the Bands in Hilo. GOAL 7: - Establishment of Pahoa Weed & Seed web page with inclusion of resource lists, upcoming events, etc. - The Resource Manual was initiated at the Neighborhood Place of Puna in 2004 and has been growing as more services are becoming available to the site. The Weed and Seed calendar and several other features are available at the web site PahoaWeedAndSeed.org GOAL 8: - Number of beautifications projects conducted and number of participants. • There have been seven beautification projects consisting of one Heavy Metal Cleanup, five trash pickup operations and a planter installation project for a total of seven beautification projects. E. Describe any problems encountered, how they impacted the program and how they were resolved. The largest problem faced by this project was the delay in the hiring of a Site Coordinator. Our official recognition as an unfunded Weed & Seed site was not announced until October of 2004. The resolution of our policies and procedures concerning the employment and accountability of the Site Coordinator was not resolved until February of 2005. It then took until April 15 2005 to interview the applicants and hire a coordinator. This set many aspects of the project back by half the term of the project. The solution has been to submit an amended budget request to divert the unused Coordinator's salazy and benefits funds to office supplies and equipment to keep us moving forward toward realizing the goals and objectives of the project. A continuing problem has been recruiting people who have the commitment to the project, the skills and the time available to volunteer their time to meet the schedule of the program. The economic desolation of the district of Puna either requires people to travel long distances to work or to work several minimum wage, part time jobs to earn a living. Most of the businesses in the site aze barely making ends meet and, therefore have few resources left to offer. The solution we are pursuing is to determinedly continue the program as best we can while reaching out to recruit new personnel. Progress has been slow but is showing results. The fiscal capacity of our fiscal agent was insufficient to allow them to accept a grant awarded by CCDO. The solution was to recruit the Salvation Army Family Intervention Services as our new fiscal agent after we were assured that they have the capacity to meet our needs. The availability of required statistics continues to be a problem at both the state and county level. The solution we are pursuing is a to apply pressure to all levels of government to make them more readily available, maintain a list of sources when they are found and to ensure that the statistics aze available before we commit to delivering them. To be submitted Every 6 months and at the End of the Project Period. AG/CPJAD #20 01/96