Reduced re-offending by young people

We work with serious, repeat offenders facing their last chance of staying on track before ending up in the adult criminal justice system. We also work with young people who have committed an offence and can be diverted into more positive activities.

Getting youth offenders back on track

Fresh Start

New legislation in 2010^[1] made some fundamental changes to the youth justice system. Importantly, it responded to requests from Youth Court judges for more options for dealing with hard-core young offenders.

The new provisions included:

• extending the length of ‘Supervision with Activity’ and ‘Supervision with Residence’ orders, followed by extended supervision
• the power to issue orders for mentoring, parenting education as well as drug and alcohol rehabilitation programmes
• extending the jurisdiction of the Youth Court to deal with the most serious 12 and 13 year old offenders
• strengthening the principle of the rights of the victim.

On 1 October 2010, we introduced the Fresh Start package to support the new legislation. We had already implemented parts of the package not dependent on legislative change. Our staff are now using a new assessment tool to identify individual needs and the causes of offending.

Fresh Start funds places for young people on a range of programmes including the following.

A small group of serious and persistent young offenders are responsible for nearly half the crime committed by young people.

Fresh Start programmes hold young people to account and manage the risk to their communities.

Youth Court Orders

Supervision with Activity orders were extended from up to three months to up to six months. As at 30 June 2011, 162 orders were made, of which 100 (61 per cent) were extended orders.

Supervision with Residence orders were also extended from up to three months to up to six months. As at 30 June 2011,175 orders were made, of which 57 (32 per cent) were extended orders.

Military-style camps

Military-style activity camps are targeted at the most serious offenders aged 15–17 years. Each programme lasts for nine weeks and pushes the young offenders hard, both physically and mentally.

Work includes goal-setting, exploring job or training opportunities, drug and alcohol treatment, and attending programmes to address their offending behavior. Participants leave the camp with individual plans, and receive ongoing support for 6–12 months.

The first camp, at the Te Puna Wai o Tuhinapo Youth Justice Residence in Christchurch, targeted 10 serious offenders dealt with by the Youth Court. The second camp was suspended because of the earthquake in February 2011. All 10 young people who attended this camp completed their Supervision with Residence orders.

Military-style camps emphasise a culture of respect, co-operation, teamwork and tolerance.

Youth Justice Family Group Conferences

We receive a referral from the New Zealand Police, or a direction from the judiciary in Youth Court, when a young person has committed an offence of sufficient concern for there to be a formal intervention process.

In 2010/2011, our youth justice co-ordinators held 7,423 youth justice family group conferences. Ninety-eight per cent of conferences were held within the statutory timeframes. Over 87 per cent of children and young people involved in a conference met the objectives of their action plans.

• A correction has been made - please refer to the Erratum

Youth Justice residential facilities

We have four youth justice facilities with places for 146 young people. In 2010/2011, we opened a new 30-bed youth justice residence in Rotorua called Te Maioha o Parekarangi (gift of life imbued in the land). We have also started to redevelop the Lower North Youth Justice Residence to increase its bed capacity from 30 to 40, and to improve its safety and security.

Our youth justice facilities have programmes aimed at helping serious young offenders turn their lives around. 

^[1]    The Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Act 2010.

Staying on track

Community Fresh Start programmes

We have also supported a range of community-based programmes which are aimed at diverting young people who have committed an offence into more positive activities. As at 30 June 2011, the numbers of young offenders on Fresh Start programmes were:

• 331 in community youth development programmes for low-level offenders
• 300 in the mentoring programmes
• 374 in parenting education programmes
• 200 in community day programmes, and 32 in residential programmes, for alcohol and drugs
• 175 on supported bail.

Ongoing monitoring and evaluation of Fresh Start will determine the effectiveness of the Government’s youth justice reforms. We will also apply what we learnt during the implementation of reforms to further develop the Fresh Start programme.

The Fresh Start Innovation Fund encourages local communities to develop new ideas for working with at-risk children and young people in their communities.

2010–2013 Statement of Intent Performance Indicators

Reduced re-offending by young people

* this figure was previously reported as per 100

Erratum

The Ministry of Social Development has identified data errors in Child, Youth and Family’s official data that require correcting in the Annual Report. Whilst the errors are not material, the Ministry considers it prudent to release corrected versions of the relevant sections and these are set out below.

Youth Justice Family Group Conferences

In 2010/2011, our youth justice coordinators held 7,484 youth justice family group conferences. Ninety-eight per cent of conferences were held within the statutory timeframes. Eighty-eight per cent of children and young people involved in a conference met the objectives of their plan.