For Immediate Release:
March 6, 2009
Contact:
Friends of the Maui Drug Court
808.276.3488
friendsmauidrugcourt@gmail.com
Maui Oral Health Center providing dental services for Drug Court
WAILUKU, Hawai`i – Maui Oral Health Center is now providing dental treatment to Maui/Moloka`i Drug Court clients and their minor children, Friends of the Maui Drug Court, President S. Larry Schlesinger, M.D., announced today.
The program is made possible by a major grant to Friends of the Maui Drug Court provided by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Crystal Meth Initiative, administered by the Hawai`i Community Foundation, as well as by other generous donations provided by local organizations and community members, Schlesinger said.
The Wailuku-based Maui Oral Health Center is a project of Maui Community College, the County of Maui, the State Department of Health and the Maui County Oral Health Task Force. Students in MCC’s Dental Assisting Program are part of the clinical team at Maui Oral Health Center, which provides dental services to underserved, low-income and uninsured families under the leadership of Clinical Director Spencer Owades, DMD.
Lack of access to dental treatment has been identified as a major impediment to the well-being and rehabilitation of Drug Court clients, Schlesinger said.
“This partnership to provide much-need dental treatment will remove an obstacle to the rehabilitative work of the Drug Court,” Schlesinger said. “We thank Dr. Owades and the entire Maui Oral Health Center staff for embarking on this effort.
“We also extend our gratitude to the Crystal Meth Initiative and the other donors to Friends of the Maui Drug Court who allow us to provide these services.”
More information about the Maui Oral Health Center is available at its website:
http://maui.hawaii.edu/student/oralHealthCenter.php
The Maui/Molokai Drug Court provides a range of intervention, treatment and prevention programs with the goal of reducing the devastating impact of substance abuse on Maui County's families and community resources. Drug Court provides non-violent offenders an opportunity to avoid or minimize incarceration upon completion of an intensive, judicially supervised substance abuse treatment program.
Since the Maui/Moloka`i Drug Court began accepting clients in the courtroom of Judge Shackley F. Raffetto more than eight years ago, Friends of the Maui Drug Court has provided critical support to the program, including by funding milestone awards and graduation ceremonies.
More information about Friends of the Maui Drug Court and the Maui/Moloka`i Drug Court is available at:
http://mauidrugcourt.info/
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Friday, March 6, 2009
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