Early Intervention Camp Program (KSEIP) mentorship program for 12-18 year old youth to provide mentoring, guidance and substance abuse counseling.

The Keala Foundation proposes to implement The Keala to Success: Early Intervention Camp Program. The purpose is to mentor the 12- to 18-year-old Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander high-risk demographic youth on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Project activities include establishing and maintaining an interdisciplinary mentorship team; referral, recruitment, and intake of qualified youth; implementing the 10-day intensive overnight residential mentorship camp experience and the 6-week follow-up maintenance and mentorship program; individual, group, and family unit accountability coordination; reintroduction to physical activity; and implementation of prevention maintenance programs.

Expected outcomes include expand and fund the existing mentoring program to provide high-quality services to youth that reduce substance misuse, delinquency, or other problem behaviors; develop an eight-week substance use early intervention camp, which will provide mentoring services tailored to the needs of at-risk youth ages 12–18 each year who are currently using or have used opioids, youth at high risk for using opioids, and youth with family members who are currently using or have used opioids; 40 mentorship matches in a 3:1 youth to mentor ratio will have been created at the end of the 36-month grant period; reduction of substance use among 90 percent of participants; positive and improved relations between mentor and youth; increased youth access to physical fitness and mental well-being prevention programs; and promote racial equity and the removal of barriers to access and opportunity for Kauai communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by inequality. High-risk youth ages 12–18, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders are the intended beneficiaries of the project.