Breaking Cycles: Alternative Models for Rehabilitation and Restorative Justice
In 2022, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) contracted UHCDC to engage stakeholders and community members in developing alternative proof-of-concept visions for the proposed relocation of the Oʻahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) AND a cross-jurisdictional pathway toward a broader continuum of care and support in Hawaiʻi. UHCDC gathered a multi-disciplinary team spanning architecture, planning, peace studies, public health, Hawaiian studies, social work, and law to bring the diverse expertise of the university to this work.
The engagement process spanned 120 talk stories, 18 site visit/listening workshops, 3 symposiums, 6 co-design workshops, 2 Cultural Advisory Group meetings, 4 pop-up exhibits, and 5 Community of Practice meetings to gather systems-reform recommendations across prevention, diversion, corrections, and reentry in parallel to facility recommendations. The scale and breadth of the engagement pushed the team to develop a range of strategies, tools, and relationships to support the short and long view of this work. Importantly, Breaking Cycles focused on re-envisioning a health, housing, and justice continuum to address substance abuse, mental health, houselessness, joblessness, and trauma as root causes of incarceration.
Client: Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Principal Investigator: Cathi Ho Schar FAIA, Dan Milz PhD, Lorinda Riley SJD
UHM Partners: Jonathan Osorio PhD, Camille Nelson LLM, Tetine Sentell PhD
Project Staff: Creesha Layaoen, Dean Matsumura, Vernon Ong, Caroline Whitesel
Student Project Team: Ghia Belarmino, Kaylen Daquioag, Julia Florentino, Riza Lara, Daniel Luna, Lahela Mattos, Michelle McDow, Nevaeh Nacion, Thanh Nguyen, Dylan Pilger, Yada Ponpittayalert, Maleah Reynolds, Haixin Ruan, Anuhea Sridharan, Anamalia Suʻesuʻe, Hannah Valencia
Junior Fabricator: Keoni Schar