METH FACTS
Most of you have seen newspaper headlines about Ice - crystal methamphetamine.
Locally known as Ice, or Batu, it is the most addictive and damaging drug that our society has ever experienced. The drug is easily made from common household chemicals that are readily available. People using the drug at first experience a tremendous energy and sense of well-being. Soon, however, the drug takes its toll on the body and brain. Memory loss, depression, paranoia and violence occur with increasing frequency.
A survey found that Hawaii leads the nation in Ice use. The statistics and anecdotal evidence shows that the Big Island is in a state of crisis. Drug houses, neglected children, domestic violence, family conflict, economic depravation, and increased property crime touch every one of our communities. According to a Department of Health study, even 6th graders have used this drug. West Hawaii Child Protective Services reports that 95% of its cases are Ice related. Social service providers throughout Hawaii report that for the first time they see parents abandoning their children rather than give up Ice.
One of the important ways that FSSWH touches families is through our Healthy Start program. Healthy Start is a voluntary program for families that have children age birth to three who are environmentally at risk. The Healthy Start Family Support Workers and Family Counselors have been able to support families in making important changes related to Ice use.
We share the following stories with you to lend reality to the impact Ice has on families. Although the names and certain other identifying characteristics have been changed to protect confidentiality, these stories are true. We are sensitive to the shame related to drug use and offer these stories with the profound hope that each of these families succeeds in their struggle to remain drug free.
Keala is a young mother with a six-month-old baby boy. She agreed to see the Healthy Start Family Counselor because her partner was causing her stress and did not have a job. It turned out that Sheldon was using Ice and was going on three-day runs where he would be away from home partying with friends. When he returned there would often be violent fights. He would sleep around the clock only to awake, eat and repeat the cycle. Staff helped this young mother safely set limits for herself and her baby. Sheldon, who wanted to stay with his family, agreed to get help. He started attending AA meetings, but was picked up on a warrant and is now in jail. He is looking forward to treatment upon his release. Keala, wiser from her experience, has ended the relationship and has set healthy standards for any future partner. It’s important to know that Sheldon, aged 22, is not a high school graduate and has never had a job. Treatment is only part of the support he will need for recovery. Meanwhile, Keala is providing a healthy home environment in which her baby can learn and grow.
Christie grew up on Maui. She writes beautifully and is a talented artist. She moved to Kona with her family a few years ago and has a 2-year-old boy in Healthy Start. Last year, her husband kicked her out of the house after a violent quarrel and kept the three children with him. She spent months on the streets where she began getting into trouble with the police and became a heavy Ice user. Her Healthy Start Family Support Worker refused to give up on her. Eventually, as Christie grew weary of the drugs and associated violence, she agreed to see the Family Counselor after much encouragement. She realized that she didn’t like the person she’d become and was tired of the misery Ice was causing her. Christie has been clean and sober for 26 days and is confident in her ability to beat her habit. She is enjoying being a mom again and has high hopes for her future. The Family Support Worker and Family Counselor remain in close contact to encourage her efforts to continue working with other agencies in the community that support her “clean and sober” lifestyle.
Debbie and Keoni had terrible fights in front of their two little boys. Keoni grew up in Kona in an alcoholic family and is an alcoholic himself at age 23. He couldn’t say no to a few beers with his friends, and because he knew that Debbie would be angry when he got home, he would find some Ice to “sober up”. When the Healthy Start Family Support Worker brought the Family Counselor to see Debbie, she appeared to be a pretty girl, but painfully thin with bad skin and hunched over from carrying so much tension in her neck and shoulders. She suffered from anxiety, depression and sleep deprivation. She had little energy for her boys beyond meeting their basic needs. Over a period of several months she learned about alcoholism. She attended Al-Anon and learned that she was powerless over Keoni’s alcohol dependence. As she set limits for herself and the boys and let go of trying to control Keoni’s drinking, he began to change. There have been many relapses, but Keoni is staying sober now for long periods of time. He has not used Ice in months. Both parents have a lot of energy for their boys now, which is showing up positively in their social and emotional development. jmarrack@fsswh.org
We will each be doing our part to contribute to a strong coordinated effort to help families suffering the effects of Ice abuse, and will ask all of you to join with us. Our children and families are counting on it.
Joan Doe was initially referred to FSSWH’s Comprehensive Partnership for Families Program in the Child Welfare Division on October 10, 2001. Joan was addicted to Crystal Methamphetamine – better known as Ice here in the islands. She had hit rock bottom after a long history of addiction.
Joan started drinking alcohol after she graduated from high school. Her ‘drug of choice’ quickly switched to cocaine. After a few years, Joan started using Ice. She gradually habituated to the point where she became a daily user that progressed for over three years. Ice became the sole focus of Joan’s life, as well as her partner. Their two children were removed from their home by the Department of Human Services, Child Protective Services, and placed in foster custody for “Threat of Neglect.” Her youngest child was born ‘drug-exposed’ from crystal methamphetamine. It was agreed that the older child would be permanently placed with the maternal aunt and husband. The youngest would be placed temporarily in foster care with hopes of eventual reunification.
Joan was discharged from our program in May of 2002. She had successfully completed our Parenting Class for Recovering Addicts, the Women’s Support Group, and received In-Home Support Counseling. She completed the recommended Substance Abuse Treatment Services with Big Island Substance Abuse Council at the same time she was participating in our services. When she was discharged from the CPFF program, she had been ‘clean’ for four months and was being reunited with her child.
Joan is a great example of a person who struggled with addiction for over 15 years, hit bottom, and with support, education, and services – was able to turn her life around and regain control of herself and her family.
The man at the registration table looked a bit haggard, tired. “I need this conference,” he told the volunteer assisting him. “I work with families in distress and see Ice addiction almost every day. Then, on my way home, I see it in my own neighborhood. Ice addiction has become so common we’ve started calling it the ‘South Kona Flu.’”
On August 14th and 15th, Family Support Services of West Hawaii hosted a Conference on Methamphetamine, the “Ice” Epidemic. Held at the Outrigger Waikoloa Resort, the presentation was made by Paul Brethen, MA, MFT; and Janice Stimson, Psy.D, of the California based Matrix Institution on Addiction.
The conference, originally planned for 150 attendees, doubled to over 300 social services providers, law enforcement personnel, and interested community members. Participants arrived from Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and throughout the Big Island.
The opening day welcome was given by Billy Kenoi, Mayor Harry Kim’s executive assistant, in finding solutions to the methamphetamine epidemic. Mayor Kim has made the Ice issue a top priority for the County. Referring to recently compiled statistics by the County of Hawaii, Kenoi reminded the attendants that the Big Island has the highest rates of substance abuse in the state and that the Ice issue has the potential to destroy traditional family structures and perhaps even “our Hawaiian way of life.”
Many conference attendees articulated the impact of Ice on their jobs and their programs. Social workers asked questions about personal safety for family members and themselves, while school teachers sought information on how to respond to and teach students returning from Ice treatment centers.
“What I learned is that Ice users become so fried, they can no longer read or even remember the simplest things,” said Beverly Collins, Supervised Visitation Coordinator for FSSWH Child Welfare Division. “If we want to make them understand our instructions we must give them pictures showing what they need to do. They can’t understand written words anymore.”
“This conference strengthens community response to concerns about Ice, “ Don Bebee, Executive Director of FSSWH said. “With Child Protective Services in Hawaii reporting that 85-95% of their caseload is Ice, or drug related, it was important to bring social workers and others together to learn how to deal with the problem. It will take a full community response to successfully combat the Ice epidemic.”
Family Support Services of West Hawaii is appreciative of the donations and efforts of the organizations that helped make the conference and its expansion possible. Mahalo to Dept. of Human Services – IVB Child Welfare; Native Hawaiian Drug Free School; Blueprint for Change; Rotary Club of Kona; Children’s Justice Center; Five Mountains Hawaii; and the many volunteers who assisted.
(Editors note: See the Executive Director’s Viewpoint, this issue, for information on the Ice Summit, which followed the Ice Conference.)
The South Kona Partnership (SKP) has formed to help protect our children from the risks and dangers of substance abuse. A grant was awarded to Family Support Services of West Hawaii by the Department of Health, Alcohol, and Drug Abuse Division with funds coming from the State Incentive Grant.
The South Kona Partnership held meetings to assess the resources and gaps in our community. Based on the findings of our local assessment and the results from the 2000 Hawaii Student Survey, SKP began to develop partnerships and collaborations to create goals and strategies that reflect our hopes for youth.
Family Support Services oversees SKP and provides the coordination of programs. Subcontracts are held by Simple Office Solutions, Christ Church Episcopal, Addicts in Recovery, Friends of the Future (The Just Think Mobile Bus), Konawaena Interact Club and the Multicultural Self-Defense Club.
Dr. Janice Rabkin has been retained to guide and implement the evaluation process for the partnership. Programs are required to measure progress and outcomes to assure accountability. FSSWH coordination of the program is managed by Huellyn Whitford.
After six months progress, the programs are doing very well. However, we are in need of adults and youth to serve on the SKP advisory board, as well as adult mentors for the Hoku Ike mentoring program for youth. If you are interested in helping the South Kona Partnership in its drug prevention programs, give Huellyn a call at 334-4110. hwhitford@fsswh.org
“Kako`o Na Makua” - All Families Stand Together By Judith Gregor
Kako`o Na Makua is a parenting education project of Family Support Services of West Hawaii, funded by United Way, which provides many welcome and needed educational services to the West Hawai`i community.
The project’s mission is to provide centralized locations where families can learn about local parenting resources and to provide educational materials to interested families through lending libraries. We steadfastly work together with our many different agencies and providers to accomplish this very successful project. We find areas of need in our community and provide a link to resources to help with the need.
We provide support, or refer West Hawai`i families to parenting classes in various sites throughout West Hawaii, with meaningful topics, such as “All Kinds of Minds,” “Common Sense Parenting,” “How To Talk So Kids Will Listen,” “Child Safety Seat Checkup and Education,” and many more. We have received excellent feedback from the classes and are happy they are making a difference in our families’ lives.
A monthly calendar of events of our General Parenting Classes, Specialty Parenting Classes, Play Groups, and Support Groups, is mailed out to 140 community service organizations, including schools, and is available to others through our website at http://www.fsswh.org/parented and check our useful parenting tips, resource pages for additional parenting information, and our monthly parenting calendar for West Hawai`i.
We created Parent Resource Libraries at Ka`u Family Center, Kohala Family Center, Kealakehe Intermediate Parent Center, and the Neighborhood Place of Kona. These libraries are filled with the most current and well-known parenting information in the form of books, videos, and free brochures, with a wide variety of topics, such as “Shaking, Hitting, Spanking,” “The First Years: A Parent & Caregiver’s Guide to Helping Children Learn,” “Positive Discipline,” the acclaimed, “I Am Your Child,” series, and many more. Parents may check out most of the resources
For information on our parenting classes and groups, or community needs you know of, please call Judith at 334-4109. ParentEd@fsswh.org
I’m reading an excellent book on fundraising. The premise is that to raise funds for an organization one must have an important “cause.” It appears that people give money to causes that are either “dear to their heart,” or furthers the “interests” of their cause.
When you think about modern economics and the struggle to survive for many people, it’s rather curious that folks make charitable contributions at all. But even more curious is the demonstrated irony found in charitable giving. The vast sums of money donated every year to causes in America come not from the wealthiest individuals, nor the finest endowments or largest corporations. The bulk of every dollar donated comes from the “working” classes.
The speculation is that these wage earners have a much better understanding of society’s true needs because they live so close to need themselves. They understand that a simple twist of fate or change of fortune could place them, or their family members, in a hardship position. Thus, they give whatever they can - once a year, twice a year, sometimes three or more times. They give enough to feel good about helping their world and the people in it.
These donors are discriminating, too. Since dollars are hard earned, they want to know about the organization they’re giving to. Does the food bank provide appropriate, healthy food? Does the shelter provide peace along with warm blankets? Are the people served treated fairly and with respect? And finally, the donor asks, “If I were in need, would I turn to this organization for help?”
As I start my new position at Family Support Services of West Hawaii, I too will be asking questions. Why will I give to FSSWH? What does the organization offer that is important and not likely available anywhere else? Are the people we serve happy with our efforts? Are their families healthier, their children safer? Are our efforts adding to our community in an enlightened and meaningful way?
As I discover the answers to these, and other questions, I’ll share them with you. Serving families and communities takes us down many roads. Our banner, “To support families and communities in providing love and care for our children,” promises a profound journey. That’s a “cause” I can commit to. I hope you will join me. jlyon@fsswh.org
Seventy-five boats carried 310 women into fierce competition for the “big one” at the 7th annual Huggo’s Na Pua’O Ke Kai Wahine Fishing Tournament on Saturday, July 27th.
The Friday night before the tournament, a kick-off was held at Huggo’s on the Rocks for an exclusive early evening of fun for the hundreds of competitors, their Captains, and crews. Many of the teams arrived dressed in costumes, and virtually all of the teams had great stories to tell about their fishing prowess and winning expectations for the next day!
Saturday’s winning fish was caught by team “Malama Kai’s” angler Rosa McKee, with a 529-1/2 pound Pacific Blue Marlin on the Long Ranger with Capt. Lance Gelman. Rosa also landed the $5,000.00 jackpot!
The lucky winners of the mother-daughter team are anglers Kerry Balaam, who caught the 275-1/2 pound fish with her mother Derinda Cantrell.
An awards ceremony was held at Huggo’s on the Rocks the Sunday following the tournament. Special awards were given to the best decorated boats, and a fast paced video of the entire event delighted the fishing crowd!
Special Mahalo to the sponsors of the event – Huggo’s Restaurant & Huggo’s on the Rocks, Pacifico, Paradise Beverages, and Banana Boat - and to the tournament directors, Sue Vermillion and Patricia “Peach” Coad! And, to our very special friend, Eric von Platen Luder, owner of Huggo’s, sincere Mahalo nui loa!
Family Support Services is grateful for the ongoing support provided by this event and for the many players who make it happen!
If you’d like to get involved next year, act early! The 8th Annual Huggo’s Na Pua ‘O Ke Kai Wahine Tournament date is set for July 26, 2003. Only 75 teams are allowed to enter, and entry forms disappear fast! Ask about the tournament next time you visit Huggo’s on the Rocks!
A very special Mahalo to the staff of Kaiser Permanente – the doctors, nurses, administrators and staff of every description – for their ongoing efforts at Queen Lili’uokalani Village Recreation Center. Over the past year these fine people have improved our facility by purchasing and installing a swing set, painting and constructing new benches, hanging basketball hoops and much, much more!
From all of us at FSSWH, Mahalo!
On August 27th, a major step was taken to begin putting together a community “Response to Ice”. A summit was held at the Outrigger Waikoloa that brought together over 300 invited local participants to work on a strategic plan for combating Ice (Crystal Methamphetamine) on the Island of Hawaii. This was made possible by Senator Daniel Inouye and DEA Administrator, Asa Hutchinson, with coordination from our Mayor’s Office.
The good news is that the summit was well attended, and from all perspectives, was a very good start on the work at hand. The bad news is the reason and necessity for having such a meeting. Our Island is in trouble to such an extent that it’s received national attention! Our families are in trouble. We stand to lose a generation of young people and we are finding our traditional methods of intervention ineffective. There is indeed an Ice epidemic in our midst!
FSSWH was a part of the Ice Summit and we pledge to be a part of the solution to this problem. Most of the families we serve are affected directly or indirectly by Ice use. We will not “stand by” or “throw up our hands”. FSSWH is committed to working with, and on behalf of, our families to find solutions. It is going to take an island-wide “community response” to effect change. That means a truly collaborative and coordinated effort involving law enforcement, treatment providers, prevention services, and most importantly, families in each of the communities that organize to stop and prevent substance abuse in our homes.
FSSWH will be there! In some cases, we’ll perform supportive roles, while in other situations we’ll lead the way. We will always look for opportunities to join with others to combat the harm that is being inflicted on our families. Ice abuse affects us all in so many ways we cannot afford to not be involved. Please join us in our endeavor to have healthy families living in healthy communities. We need your support. dbebee@fsswh.org
GRATITUDES
To be social-minded is to be “actively interested in the well- being of society as a whole.” Here at FSSWH, our staff considers social well being in terms of the gratitude they feel, one accomplishment at a time:
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“A child who has been in our program for 2 1/2 years just started preschool. He will be transitioning out of our program soon. His mom brought him by after his first day of school to see us. He looked so cute and grown up. We are so proud of him!”
Biz Alley, Home Visitor, & Cathy Lewis, Parent Advocate, Early Head Start, Ka’u
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“The HIPPY home visitors have utilized their Americorp educational stipends and enrolled at our local Community College. All of the staff were former recipients in this educational program which makes it even more special. Their college experience thus far has been well received. I have witnessed their new found excitement for learning and this truly is the best thing I've seen ALL Year!
Lori Casuga, Administrative Assistant, HIPPY Program (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters)
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One of my best experiences this month was listening to a 10 month old baby try to talk to me for the first time. Mahalo!
Kimmy Gay, Home Visitor, Early Head Start
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I just came back from a meeting of the girls’ Mauka 4-H Club who are doing a project in partnership with us called "CRIB" - Creating Readers In Babies. They are making book-bags with their 4H logo and our FSSWH logo. The book-bag will include a burp pad and a book. This is a great community literacy project!
JoAnn Freed, Director, Early Childhood Education
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Parents saying they have learned new skills to help them be better parents!
Judith Gregor, Parent Educator, Healthy Start
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The hard work and commitment I see from FSSWH staff everyday!
Stephanie Mackey, Administrative Assistant, Youth Development
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Our staff has really pulled together to embrace our policies and methods to serve our families. The team really faces the constant barrage of changes very well.
Michael Kramer, Clinical Supervisor, Healthy Start
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Completing the site visit for the “Council on Accreditation!”
Holly Chavez, Executive Assistant, Administration
The best thing I have experienced at work this past month is the camaraderie of my co-workers in the Early Childhood Education division. I feel that staff is very supportive and willing to go the extra mile to help each other out. I feel that I am a part of a team. But even better, I feel like I am part of a family!
Shannon Ramirez, Program Manager, HIPPY Program
WISHES
Dear reader,
To keep “social well being” the focus of our goals. If you can help
make our wishes come true, please, give us a call.
808-326-7778
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The first donation I would ask for would be a bigger van to transport more families. And we always need furniture and baby accessories for the families. Yes, indeed - a new van for transporting clients and some new “developmental” toys!
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I’d ask for money for an additional HIPPY Home Visitor and money to purchase more HIPPY supplies and curriculum. Money to send a HIPPY Home Visitor to the National HIPPY Conference next year would be good, too!
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More volunteers! We need help in after school programs and monthly “Open Mic” sessions.
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We need good quality baby clothes and car seats that we can give away to families in need.
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A new computer “server” to meet our growing needs.
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We could use some cash donations so that we can purchase 500-600 books (depending on the births at the hospital) for the CRIB program. Good quality board books are especially needed!
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Valet Service! (Just kidding. A van would do!)
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I’d ask some kind philanthropist to donate a ping-pong table to the Youth Service Center in Ka’u. The kids would really enjoy it!