With a belief that supportive services can decrease the risk of new crimes, a nonprofit organization, Going Home Hawaii, seeks to provide reentry and recovery programs to individuals coming out of the justice system.
Going Home Hawaii CEO Les Estrella said the organization has been around as a consortium since 2004, though their roots can be traced back to the late 1990s as a workforce development initiative. Estrella also serves as the executive chair for the Hawaii Island Going Home Consortium.
“There’s been a lot of information and press revolving around reentry issues in our state, as well as our county and nation,” Estrella told Big Island Times. “That’s very costly when you’re looking at building bigger prisons. It’s costly when you’re looking at incarcerating people. It’s costly when you look at the results of many years of law that are more punitive than restorative. Because we are a community organization, our main purpose is to really have an impactful outcome to have a safer community.”
The organization, Estrella said, exists for the community to have a safe space for all to enjoy. By assisting formerly incarcerated individuals and their families, he said they can break up the cycle of recidivism and improve safety in the community.
While the state’s recidivism rate currently sits at about 60%, Estrella said programs like Going Home Hawaii reduce the rate to around 15 to 20%.
“It’s cost-effective to put money and resources into community programs that help to transform people into contributing members, instead of putting them away to come back out again and commit another crime,” Estrella said.
Estrella got involved in the reentry initiative after getting through a personal situation of his own. For many people, he said, staying involved is an impactful and decisive way to move forward in their lives.
“Mentoring really is a huge, unique factor in our direct program service provision,” program administrator Kimi Palacio told Big Island Times.
According to Going Home Hawaii’s website, the ultimate intent is to reenter and reintegrate former inmates as contributing members of society.
Their mission is to assist justice-involved Hawaii Island men, women and youth with reintegration into community life through employment, education, housing and other appropriate services. Among these are temporary housing, case management, mentoring, job readiness training, education and family reunification programs.
Anyone interested in getting involved with Going Home Hawaii may participate in consortium meetings or donate to further support the cause.
