“Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are overrepresented at every stage in the juvenile justice system. Due to historical trauma that predates the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Indigenous people are more likely to experience poverty than their nonindigenous neighbors—and in their own homelands.
To date, the collective advocacy work of local community leaders, the State of Hawaiʻi, and national experts have reduced the state’s youth incarceration rate by 82 percent. Now, the State of Hawaiʻi is working toward a 100 percent reduction—but it’s not an easy task.”