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Posted: Saturday, October 29th, 2005 1:38 PM HST

State opens "safe house" for incarcerated youth on Big Island

By Associated Press

HONOKAA, Hawaii (AP) _ The state has opened a group home on the Big Island's Hamakua Coast that will serve as an alternative to the state's youth prison for nonviolent youthful offenders. The Ke Kama Pono Safe House in Honokaa will be operated by the Salvation Army and will initially serve six teenage girls who'll be offered services such as counseling and drug abuse education. Lieutenant Governor James ``Duke'' Aiona was on hand for this morning's opening. He says the safe house is a step toward more community-based alternatives to incarceration at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility on Oahu. The state's troubled youth prison in Kailua is the target of several civil rights lawsuits and has come under criticism from the federal government. Last summer the U-S Justice Department released a highly critical report that said the young inmates' constitutional and federal statutory rights were violated at the youth prison. The Justice Department described the Kailua facility as ``existing in a state of chaos.'' (Copyright 2005 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)