For youth status offenders and non-offenders who have been taken into police custody, the Valid Court Order Program helps to ensure that they are not improperly or unnecessarily detained in secure detention or correctional facilities. The Program was created and implemented in to assist the State of Hawaii in complying with the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974.

The Valid Court Order Program provides an additional service to Family Court in which the Hale Kipa Independent Reviewer provides a written review of a status offender, aged 10 to 17 years, who is on protective supervision status with Family Court and who is alleged to have violated a Valid Court Order (VCO).

The Independent Written Review report includes information about the behavior of the youth and the circumstances under which the youth was brought before the court, the reasons for the youth’s behavior, services that have already been administered, and whether all dispositions other than secure confinement have been exhausted or are clearly inappropriate. The report, which is released only to the presiding Family Court judge and the State, recommends program services for the youth without identifying a particular provider.

Primary funding source: Office of Youth Services.