Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 18, Number 9, 1 September 2001 — LEKA Kālele [ARTICLE]

LEKA Kālele

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Adoption pilikia At a recent gathering of people interested in women prisoners, a minister from Waimānalo (who works especially with drug addicts) asked the audienee if we were aware that Hawaiian chiidren of inmates were being shipped to the mainland for adoption. An attendee, a Hawaiian ex-convict who has gotten a degree in social work from the Univesity of Hawai'i and is now working to help ex-prisoners, told us that she and her family were unable to adopt her sister's child because the attendee was in prison 10 years ago. The child was sent to the mainland for adoption. Ethnically, the audience was a typical island mix,

and I think I ean say that we were all astounded and horrified to hear about this. My group, Community Allianee on Prisons, has decided to spend about half of our upcoming annual conference on the subject of WANTED Hawaiian children being sent to the mainland for adoption. We hope that many Hawaiians who are unaware of this practice will want to educate themselves on the subject and altend our September 29 conferenee. Note: See "Shattered Lives " newsbrief on page 6 for additional information. Dorothy I. Cornell Honolulu