A new treatment option for drug-dependent youth on Kauaʻi is breathing life into the island’s troubled $7 million adolescent treatment center, a taxpayer-funded facility that fell into disrepair over the four years that it stood vacant.
Ka Ulu I Ka Pono Academy, or KIPA, was built in 2019 on land donated for the purpose of establishing Kauaʻi’s first youth inpatient addiction service center since the Serenity House closed its doors after Hurricane ʻIniki ripped through the island in 1992. But the 16-bed facility could never attract an inpatient service provider.
The search for a residential program operator continues. In the meantime, the YMCA of Honolulu has transformed the facility into a counseling hub for Kauaʻi youth grappling with substance abuse or at risk of misusing drugs and alcohol…