Drug treatment courts can offer an alternative to incarceration for people with substance abuse disorders and addictions in the criminal justice system, but it’s common across the country for white participants of drug treatment courts to have better outcomes compared to participants of other races.
However, a recent report shows that the drug treatment programs on Hawaiʻi Island could hold some of the answers to solving those racial disparities.
“If we want to eliminate racial disparities in outcomes in treatment courts, which of course we do, the mainland can take a lot from what we've learned on the Big Island,” said John Gallagher, an associate professor of criminal justice at Alvernia University in Pennsylvania.
He recently published a report on the Hilo and Kona drug treatment court programs, showing that incorporating cultural practices into treatment can help curb racial disparities and increase participants' success.
“Reconnecting to Hawaiian culture without a doubt, from the lived experience of participants, helped them do well in drug court,” he said.
“By doing well, it helped them achieve and sustain their addiction and mental health recovery. They felt that it helped them complete the program and eventually not recidivate and stay out of the program.”
Lorna Lim is the cultural practitioner for the Kona women’s drug treatment court program. She starts her teachings with the law of the Aloha Spirit.
“It's really beginning with akahai, the A in aloha, meaning to have grace, to have to be expressed with tenderness. And that was my first introduction to the class,” she said.
“When I said aloha, it is not about looking outside of them. It is taking all of these things and powerfully incorporating it into you. Think about what it means to you to have grace, and then once you learn to embrace all of these things, and then watch it domino effect — it starts to change their lives.”
The teachings extend outside of the court as well, such as helping to restore ʻōhiʻa lehua forests in Waimea. Lim explained the importance of connecting with the land.
“We also go out of the court and take them to places where they mālama ʻāina, they have done care-taking of the land. But before we do that, too, we also incorporate the stories of the places and how important and significant these places are,” she said.
"One day they can tell their grandchildren or their families that 'I was a part of that, that a part of me is there' and that really ignited their eyes."
Another aspect of the drug treatment court programs on Hawaiʻi Island that has made it successful is the trust between the participants and the drug court staff, Gallagher explained.
A key reason is that participants are not incarcerated for drug-use alone.
“ What we found in Kona and Hilo is that participants said, I trust my counselor, I trust my probation officer, I trust the judge. And as a researcher, I sat back and I was like, I'm not used to hearing that,” he said.
“I'm used to them saying, ‘I lie to my counselor. Not because I'm a liar,’ and they're not, but because, ‘I don't trust my counselor.’”
Drug Court Coordinator on Hawaiʻi Island Grayson Hashida explained that jail should be an option of last resort. Instead, non-jail consequences should be gradual, such as ankle monitors or curfew restrictions.
“We want them to get a quick consequence and learn their lesson that, hey, that's wrong, but let's get back on track,” he said.
“Let's have you be in front of treatment and working to address your issues. Let's have you back with Lorna [Lim] to readjust cultural issues and really learn, and get back in a positive framework … and the cultural program is a direct reflection and end result of all that.”
Gallagher hopes that his findings will help to inform best practices in other drug treatment programs across the country. He plans to return to Hawaiʻi later next year to continue his research.
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