Pilot Programming for Prison
Mentoring for Huikahi Circle Applicants
In 2011 a woman who had a Huikahi Circle needed local support. She was from another state and did not have anyone on O`ahu to be her friend when she was released. Hawai’i Friends found her a mentor (a person happened to contact who wanted to help incarcerated people).
With the insight of a visiting New York City police officer and a corrections instructor from the City University of New York, John Jay Criminal Justice School, along with a family therapist, two lawyers and community prison activist, mentoring guidelines were developed and a mentoring pilot project was born.
The program is limited to Huikahi Circle applicants-in-need at the Hawai’i women’s prison, Windward Community Correctional Center, in Kailua on the island of O`ahu.
Currently there is only one person being mentored with a Hawai’i Friends mentor. As the program develops more in the future further reports will be made.