HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0955.001 2008-2010 Re. presentation by Rick Campbell, director of Youth Challenge Academy (YCA)
Hawai'i County Council Committee on Human Services & Economic Development
Tuesday, October 5, 2010 10:45 AM
County Councilroom, 25 Aupuni St., Hilo
oral comments by
Cory Harden, Box 10265, Hilo, Occupied Hawai'i, 96721 808 - 968 -8965 mh a(7interpac.net
Please support restoring Kulani Correctional Facility and expanding the Natural
Area Reserve. Please do not support the Youth Challenge Academy (YCA).
There are several troubling reports about YCAs. I hope Mr. Campbell will comment
today, or as soon as possible.
A 16- year -old student made these allegations: he was raped by an 18- year -old
male student at an Alabama YCA in April 2008. He told staff, but they did nothing.
The next month, when YCA allowed contact with his mother, he told her. She
pulled him out of the program and notified police. But YCA refused to give the
police information, saying staff were employees of a private corporation. The
mother took legal action seeking over $1 million compensation. This is from a legal
document on the Internet. Note the use of staff from a private corporation.
A 16- year -old at a Louisiana YCA alleged he was put in a small cubicle, allowed
only limited fluids, and left in his own vomit and waste for long periods over three
days, in August 2009. His kidneys then failed temporarily and he was hospitalized
for weeks. The family reached a $95.000 settlement with the state. This is from an
article on theadvocate.com website. Note that the state seemed to have liability.
A 17- year -old girl in a New Mexico YCA accused a mentor of sexual advances in
October 2009. The mentor turned himself in to police. This is from a TV news
website.
Almost three - quarters of the students left or were expelled after five months at an
Alabama YCA, in April 2007. I don't know if it's the same YCA cited earlier. YCA
said some inappropriate students had been accepted due to time constraints . This
is from a state Education Week journal article on the Internet.
Note also that about 20% of YCA graduates join the military, according to Maj.
Gen. Lee of the Hawai'i National Guard. But only about 8% of Hawai'i's high school
seniors planned to join the military, according to a Department of Education
survey. And last year, a new military recruiting location was announced, adjacent
to the Hawai'i YCA. [1]
And note that 1.2 million Federal tax dollars and 400,000 state tax dollars would be
needed to open a YCA at Kulani. [1]
[1) Two conflicting visions for Kulani prison, Hawai'i Independent, 3 -25 -10
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