Orphaned kittens are finding a temporary home to grow, play, and build strength at Oʻahu’s Women's Community Correctional Center.
The “Transforming Animal and Incarcerated Individuals’ Lives” program, or TAIIL, is a collaboration between the Hawaiian Humane Society and the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The shelter sends litters of kittens to the correctional facility every five weeks or so, where they are nursed to full strength by Sherri Ann Johnston and Paulette Paulich, two women incarcerated there.
The new foster moms are currently caring for a pair of brother and sister kittens named Junior and Minnie. The duo marks the 26th and 27th kittens Johnston and Paulich have cared for since the TAIIL program started in October.
Each of the 25 previous cats has been adopted within a week of being sent back to the Hawaiian Humane Society.
“It’s really cool to see them get picked up so fast, because their new families know exactly where they’re coming from,” Johnston said.
“It makes me feel good. The families know they were in our care, which means they know we were the ones to get them healthy again before they were adopted.”
The program was spearheaded by DCR Director Tommy Johnson and Sen. Glenn Wakai, who advocated for the $50,000 in state funding to launch the one-year pilot program.
They said the intention behind it was to foster a “triple-win situation” — a win for the shelters that are at maximum capacity, a win for the taxpayers, and a win for the two incarcerated women who get to nurture their patience, empathy, and responsibility before they reenter society.
“I've seen the women become more communicative, less combative with the other inmates, and more empathetic,” Johnson said. “I think their outlook on people and their whole perspective on life has changed. So when they do reintegrate back into the community, it’ll be much easier, which I think will be the most positive outcome of this.”
Each litter sent from HHS varies in size, with some containing up to six kittens compared to smaller litters, like Junior and Minnie. The care is split between Johnston and Paulich, who are in charge of feeding them, administering medication, and regularly weighing them to monitor their progress.
All kittens are under eight weeks old and weigh less than 2 pounds when they first meet their foster moms. Once they hit the 2-pound mark, it’s time to say goodbye and return to the shelter to await their forever home.
“Oh, it never gets easier. The first litter was definitely the worst — I was just a mess and a wreck. We get used to it, sure, but the goodbyes never get easy,” Paulich said, standing in front of a wall covered in pictures of all her past kittens.
“These little guys have changed me. I'm more sensitive now; not that I was hard before, but I really, really have become soft.”
Johnston was initially pursuing a degree in Native Hawaiian studies during her time at the facility, but she said the TAIIL program opened a door she didn’t know existed. She recently pivoted to a veterinary degree and hopes to continue caring for orphaned animals once she gets out.
“I’ve learned responsibility is everything. I'm in prison, so obviously I wasn't responsible, so I ended up here,” Johnston said. “I never looked at responsibility as taking care of anybody. I just thought as long as I took care of myself, that's all that mattered. But that's not what matters. So now being responsible for them, caring for another life, is everything.”
The program has enough state funding to run through October 2026, but program organizers are looking to extend it through other financial sources.
Wakai suggested that he is eyeing a similar “Dogs and Dudes” program that would allow men incarcerated at Halawa Correctional Facility to become foster dads to orphaned puppies.
But for now, Paulich and Johnston get to reap all the benefits of having furry friends to come home to each night — even if that means bittersweet goodbyes every month.
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