Lydia House: Advocacy Lite

by Penn Pantumsinchai

For decades, Native Hawaiian youth have been consistently overrepresented in the foster care and juvenile justice systems, and among the homeless in Hawaiʻi. While the numbers have improved recently, the continuing overrepresentation highlights critical flaws within Hawaiʻi’s system of care: the gap in local services for youth in crisis (e.g., long term housing for youth, emergency shelters, drop-in centers, etc.) and lack of an integrated system to provide continuity of care to support the successful transition of these youth as they enter adulthood.

To address these gaps, Liliʻuokalani Trust (LT) launched a yearlong collaboration with organizations serving youth engaged with, or at-risk for engagement, with these systems. Lydia House is a result of that collaboration.

read full article