Big Island's LEAD Program Begins With Hope

 
Big Island’s LEAD program begins with hope
The innovative, collaborative and promising pilot project deals with substance abuse, homelessness and low-level crime
 
KONA, Hawaiʻi – Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) has come to Hawaiʻi
Island, on the heels of early successes on Oʻahu and Maui.

The pilot project, which received $650,000 in ʻOhana Zone funding from the State,
launched Thursday in Kona. The Big Island Substance Abuse Council (BISAC) will
operate the pilot project along with several key partners, including HOPE Services
Hawaiʻi, Going Home Hawaiʻi and Bridge House. The Hawaiʻi County Police
Department and Prosecutor’s Office are also on board with the project, which will
initially operate only in Kona but may eventually expand across the island.

“The launch of Kona’s LEAD program represents another step forward in our
effort to resolve homelessness,” said Gov. David Ige. “We are confident that LEAD
will make a positive difference and improve the well-being of participants on
Hawaiʻi Island, just as it has on Oʻahu and Maui.”

“I am excited about the implementation of the LEAD program on Hawaiʻi Island
and more specifically in West Hawaiʻi,” said Hawaiʻi Island Mayor Harry Kim. “I am
so proud of our police officers and all others involved in this program.”

LEAD is an arrest diversion program implemented as an alternative to the normal
criminal justice system cycle of booking, detention, prosecution, conviction and
incarceration. Under the LEAD program model, law enforcement officers make
contact with low-level nonviolent offenders or individuals at high risk of arrest
and refer them into a trauma-informed intensive case-management program.

There, the individual receives a wide range of support services, often including
transitional and permanent housing and/or drug treatment. The original LEAD
program began in Seattle in 2011 and has been replicated in 34 states.

There are LEAD projects already operating on Oʻahu and Maui. Honolulu’s LEAD
pilot began in July 2018, and a recent 1-year evaluation found that participants
saw a 55 percent reduction in law enforcement citations, an increased feeling of
wellness, and a decrease in meth use. Maui’s LEAD program began in May and its
participants are already showing positive results. Kauaʻi LEAD just recently
launched as well.

“We are really excited to begin the LEAD program on Hawaiʻi Island,” said Dr.
Hannah Preston-Pita, chief executive officer of BISAC. “With the lack of resources
on our island, this program will definitely make a big impact. Our mayor,
prosecuting attorney, chief of police and our local providers – Hope Services,
Bridge House and Going Home – have been ready since day one to add this
program as a resource.

“BISAC and ADAD (the Hawaiʻi Department of Health’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Division) have been planning this program for the last couple of months and now
it’s finally here.”

In 2018, state legislators appropriated $30 million to establish at least three
ʻOhana Zone sites on Oʻahu, and one each on Hawaiʻi Island, Maui and Kauaʻi.
The law requires that ʻOhana Zones be placed on state and county land and that
those spaces provide services to assist homeless individuals and families in
accessing permanent housing.

Other projects addressing homelessness are also in the pipeline for Hawaiʻi
County. An assessment center at the Na Kahua Hale o Ulu Wini housing complex
is expected to open by the end of the year, and the Village 9 affordable housing
project and 20 units of permanent supportive housing at the newly opened
Keolahou emergency shelter are scheduled to welcome residents in spring 2020.