By Cameron Clark, Kaleionaia K-aloha and Jamee Miller, Ka Wai Ola News
Published on: Mar. 1, 2026
It began quietly, as many movements do.
A small group of Native Hawaiian youth, friends since the age of four, moved through childhood as best friends: playing, learning, and imagining futures rooted in education, leadership, and connection to ʻāina. They did not grow up talking about the justice system.
It was only in their teenage years that a shared reality came into focus: family members who were incarcerated and the weight of intergenerational involvement with a system that had shaped their lives long before they could name it.
They understood that while they could not change the past or the circumstances they were born into, they could shape what came next. Over the course of one weekend, they made a collective decision to speak openly, support one another, and transform lived experience into action, working toward a future defined not by the impact of incarceration within their ʻohana, but by opportunity, healing, and self-determination. From that decision, Nā ʻŌpio Waiwai (NOW) was born.
NOW emerged within ʻEkolu Mea Nui (EMN), a Native Hawaiian ʻohana-led nonprofit working to transform Hawaiʻi’s justice system through cultural practice, lived experience, and values rooted in ʻāina aloha – the understanding that ʻāina is a living relative inseparable from the wellbeing of people and communities.
EMN operates at the intersection of grassroots leadership, policy, and systems change, bridging community voices with institutional decision-making to strengthen the futures of youth and families impacted by incarceration across Hawaiʻi.
From that foundation, NOW became a youth-led council built on voice, mentorship, and community. Young people speak for themselves, shaping solutions to prevent intergenerational incarceration by redefining accountability through healing, family, and culture.
In 2024, NOW youth were introduced to the legislative process by leaders from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Hawaiʻi who explained how laws are shaped and how testimony can become a tool for transformation. By the start of the 2025 Legislative Session, they were no longer just observers; they were ready to be active participants in the democratic process.
Together, EMN and the NOW Youth Council stepped into statewide leadership through the Debt Free Justice Hawaiʻi (DFJ-HI) campaign, joining national DFJ partners to eliminate the fees and fines imposed on minors in Hawaiʻi’s juvenile legal system.
Guided by NOW’s youth voices and lived experiences, EMN is working alongside community leaders, justice system experts, and institutional partners across Hawaiʻi to improve outcomes for youth by removing financial penalties that hinder true accountability and rehabilitation.
Juvenile court financial penalties do not create accountability; they create debt, deepen inequity, and place an added burden on families already navigating harm.
According to the Hawaiʻi Department of Human Services (DHS), Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) youth make up 56% of all youth adjudicated in state juvenile court proceedings. With an estimated $40,000 in juvenile financial penalties assessed to NHPI youth and their families each year, these monetary sanctions reinforce cycles of punishment rather than on repair and accountability.
And despite all the harm these fines and fees create, they generate no meaningful revenue for the courts. A judiciary report confirmed that, from 2019 to 2024, youth and their families only managed to pay 17% of the fines ordered against them in juvenile cases.
In March 2025, NOW youth drafted House Concurrent Resolution 174 (Grandinetti), a measure that was unanimously adopted in both the Hawaiʻi State House and Senate. The resolution calls for increased investment in ʻāina-based community service programs for youth, signaling a shift away from punitive financial penalties toward culturally grounded accountability.
Through this process, NOW youth witnessed firsthand how their political advocacy could create change in Hawaiʻi. With DHS and the Juvenile Justice State Advisory Council actively implementing their recommendations, the NOW resolution became the foundation for bold legislative reforms, marking the transition from youth advocacy to youth policymaking.
The passage of the resolution marked a milestone but not an ending.
As the 2026 Legislative Session commences, EMN and NOW are proud to support House Bill 1626 (Tarnas) and Senate Bill 2540 (Kouchi), companion bills that aim to fully replace Hawaiʻi juvenile fees and fines with culturally aligned, ʻāina-based rehabilitation and accountability programs. These measures reflect growing recognition that monetary sanctions do not improve youth outcomes or public safety, and that accountability must be rooted in healing rather than harm.
Debt Free Justice Hawaiʻi is supported by Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander families, youth leaders, community organizations, and legal advocates statewide, as well as a growing coalition of lawmakers committed to equity, culturally grounded solutions, and youth wellbeing.
EMN and NOW are incredibly grateful to Senate President Ronald Kouchi and Rep. David Tarnas for championing this measure, as well as leaders in the House (Vice Speaker Ichiyama and Rep. Marten) and Senate (Sen. San Buenaventura and Sen. Rhoads) for their earnest engagement with the Debt Free Justice Hawaiʻi campaign.
For NOW youth, the work moving through the 2026 session represents something larger than a single bill. It is a continuation of a vision grounded in ʻāina aloha, collective responsibility, and the belief that while systems may be inherited, futures can be changed. The question is no longer whether young people are ready to lead. It is whether we are ready to follow.