Hon Paula Bennett
Minister for Social Development and Employment
Disability Issues
Youth Affairs

16 February 2009
Media Release

A Fresh Start for young offenders

New Zealand’s most serious and persistent young offenders are the target of proposed changes to the youth justice system, says the Minister of Social Development and Employment Paula Bennett.

The Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Bill will be introduced to the House on February 18.

The Bill is aimed at the worst 1,000 youth offenders and contains three main reforms:
• giving the Youth Court the power to issue a new range of compulsory orders including parenting, mentoring, and drug and alcohol rehabilitation programmes,
• extending the jurisdiction of the Youth Court to include 12 or 13 year olds accused of serious offences,
• creating tougher, more effective sentences.

Residential sentences available to the Youth Court for young offenders would double to a maximum six months, followed by up to a year’s supervision. Supervision with Activity orders will also increase to a maximum of six months, followed by supervision of up to six months. In this area, we anticipate a new range of programmes incorporating elements of military-style training.

The Youth Court will be able to order parents to take part in education programmes. Young offenders who are - or are about to become - parents could also be required to participate in such programmes.

Repeat offenders and those who breach community orders may be subject to judicial monitoring, with the court able to ‘spotlight’ certain elements of their sentence. A small number of offenders may be monitored electronically.

A military-style activity camp programme would be developed to target the 40 most serious young offenders. This programme would consist of up to three months residential training, using army-type facilities or training methods and provide clear boundaries, reinforcement of self-discipline, personal responsibility and community values. It would be followed by up to nine months of intensive support to meet each young person’s individual needs.

Ms Bennett says most young people who break the law are dealt with effectively.

“However, there’s a small core of young people who have exhausted all of their options under the current system, or who are guilty of extremely violent crime”

“The impact of these 1,000 offenders on their victims can be far reaching. We need to take action now to help them avoid a bleak feature. We owe it to them and to the country.”

Questions and Answers
A fresh start for young offenders – Youth Justice Reforms

When is this happening?

The Children, Young Persons and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment legislation is being given a first reading on Wednesday February 17 2008 and will be implemented by 1 October 2010.

What are the changes going to cost?

The changes associated with these reforms will cost up to $35 million.

While this is a big investment, both New Zealand and international studies show there are many long-term economic and social benefits to be gained by rehabilitating young offenders.

Which organisations will be involved?

Ministry of Social Development (in particular Child, Youth and Family), the Ministry of Justice (Courts), Police and the New Zealand Defence Force – along with a number of key partner organisations in the justice and welfare sectors which provide care and services to these children and young people.

Why are the changes necessary?

We realise some changes need to be made to target serious offenders who are on the wrong path. Our care and protection and youth justice systems deal effectively with most children and young people who break the law. For our most serious, recidivist offenders though, we need options that are stronger and more intensive. There are around 1,000 young offenders in this category. If we don’t do something about the adult offenders of tomorrow, we will leave a legacy of victims in their wake.

Evidence shows further legislative flexibility will make a difference for this group, to hold them to account, while focusing on the underlying causes behind their offending.

How many young offenders will be targeted under these new reforms?

This Fresh Start package targets a group of around 1,000 serious and persistent young offenders aged between 14 and 16. It also targets a small group of around eighty 12- to 13-year-olds accused of committing a serious crime or repeat offending, who need interventions over and above those delivered through the care and protection system.

Which Youth Court Orders are being extended?

The present youth justice system works well for most young offenders. The changes for the 1,000 serious young offenders are being proposed so that we can work with them over a longer period of time providing a planned, sustained and intensive intervention in their lives.

• Supervision with residence order –the current maximum of three months in a residence followed by a maximum of six months supervision in the community is being doubled to a new maximum of six months in a residence followed by a maximum of 12 months supervision in the community.
• Supervision with activity order – being extended from the current maximum of three months on a specified activity programme followed by a maximum of three months supervision in the community to a new maximum of six months activity followed by a maximum of six months supervision.

Why is the length of orders being extended?

Research shows longer intervention programmes give young people essential ongoing support and treatment to be able to make a long-term positive change.

Research also indicates that intensive programmes for young offenders work if they address the underlying causes of offending and incorporate therapeutic and educational interventions.

Why is there a need for a military activity camp?

Next year, we are giving the Courts an option of a highly specialised residential programme that is centred on military style discipline which will have mentoring, drug and alcohol, literacy and numeracy modules attached.

In the first year, places will be available for 40 of the most dangerous and recidivist young offenders. These young people are on their last chance with the Youth Court and may have already been subject to a Supervision with Residence Order and whose offending sees them heading for the adult court system. It is the most intensive intervention aimed at helping them get their lives back on track. We intend to look at the expansion of this programme in the future.

These sorts of programmes will provide offenders with clear boundaries, and teach them about self-discipline, personal responsibility and community values. Positive mentoring will be a central part of the programme.

Successful military-style programmes such as the Limited Service Volunteers are already operating and achieving good results for young people, though these don’t specifically target young offenders.

Which organisation/s will run the military activity camp programme?

Child, Youth and Family is working with the New Zealand Defence Force to develop appropriate military-style residential programme. Details around where they will be and who will run them will be announced closer to the commencement of the legislation.

Child, Youth and Family will also work with other providers currently delivering supervision with activity programmes to ensure they too include the reinforcement of self-discipline, personal responsibility and community values.

It will take the expertise of many different people and organisations to ensure we develop a programme that give these young offenders the support they need to get them on track.

How many camps will be run?

We propose running four programmes annually, with 10 young people in each intake. This will be the subject of additional work to consider the most appropriate group sizes for the approximately 40 young people these programmes will target.

We will ensure wherever these programmes are located, there is adequate security in place. The safety of local communities and the young people themselves is a key consideration.

Will any other programmes incorporate this new ‘military’ component?

Yes. Child, Youth and Family currently run a range of programmes for serious young offenders through the Supervision with Activity Order.

Child, Youth and Family will work with existing and new providers to ensure their programmes are strengthened and are designed to help the young person develop self-discipline, personal responsibility and community values.

In conjunction with these Supervision with Activity programmes, an individually tailored package of help will be provided for each child or young person to help turn their behaviour around and prevent offending.

What form will the other types of programmes being run take?

There will be parenting, mentoring, and drug and alcohol programmes available which help address the underlying causes of offending. These can be stand-alone orders, or used in conjunction with other orders.

Over the next twelve months we will work with partner agencies and non-government organisations to make sure we have effective, targeted programmes available to the most serious offenders and their families.

What is being introduced to deal with serious young offenders?

The government recognises we need to improve and extend the current range of options for dealing with young offenders. We will do this by:

• giving the Youth Court more power to issue new parenting education, mentoring, and drug and alcohol treatment orders,

• extending the jurisdiction of the Youth Court to deal with 12- to 13-year-olds who commit very serious crimes,

• creating tougher, more effective sentences for the worst offenders.

Parenting education orders

Research shows that providing the parents of serious young offenders with training and support in parenting skills, and information about the diagnosis and treatment of key risk factors (such as drug involvement, school failure, anti-social peers and abuse at home) works to reduce youth offending.

Evidence from the UK, where parenting education orders have been used successfully over the past decade, is promising. It shows significant reductions in offending and increased levels of parental confidence resulting in improved communication with their child; improved supervision and monitoring of young people’s activities; a reduction in the frequency of conflict with young people, and better approaches to handling conflict when it arises. Parents reported better relationships, including providing more praise and approval of their child, and less criticism and loss of temper. They feel better able to influence young people’s behaviour and cope with parenting in general.

Where a young offender is, or is about to become, a parent, they may also be required to attend a parenting education course. They will aim to help them become better parents and, in reinforcing a sense of responsibility, contribute to their motivation to stop offending.

What happens if a parent ordered to attend a programme doesn’t?

The Youth Court will be able to respond by referring the matter for a care and protection family group conference. This will mean that the care and protection of the child will be considered and recommendations around the best course of action for the wellbeing of the child will be made.

What do we know about mentoring programmes?

Mentoring programmes with young offenders have been shown to be most effective where they are part of a wider co-ordinated response addressing the needs of the young person.

Significant reductions in re-offending occurred when mentoring was part of a programme which also included elements such as behaviour modification, supplementary education, and employment programmes.

New Zealand research with at-risk youth has shown mentoring can help young people set positive goals, improve school performance, enhance their feelings of identity and wellbeing, improve peer and family/whänau relationships and decision-making and decrease drug and alcohol use.

Why is there a need for alcohol and drug programmes?

A large number of young offenders have problems with substance abuse.
Access to programmes which assist in rehabilitating young offenders reduces offending as well as improves the quality of life for the young person.

Which provider/s will run the mentoring, parenting and drug and alcohol programmes?

This will be announced prior to the commencement of the new legislation.

What is the supported bail programme?

This programme is for young offenders on bail and provides an alternative to them being held in a youth justice residence. The young people on the programme are intensively supported in the community to meet their bail conditions, take part in meaningful activities, access services and make positive behaviour changes.

An evaluation of the programme shows it works well in keeping young people supported in the community.

Who will run the electronic monitoring?

Planning and preparation work is underway and announcements will be made prior to the commencement of the new legislation.

Will there be accommodation shortages for these young people? Where will they be placed?

No. Child, Youth and Family is in the process of building a 30-bed youth justice facility in Rotorua which is due to be completed by October 2010. Child, Youth and Family is also redeveloping its Palmerston North facility, increasing bed capacity by 10. It is expected to be completed by December 2010.

These developments increase the total number of youth justice residential places from 110 to 150. These increases, coupled with a greater investment in supervision with activity, supported bail programmes, treatment foster homes and military-style activity camps, should provide enough facilities to accommodate longer residential stays.

The supervision with activity programmes are increasing from 125 to 175 placements to accommodate the longer supervision with activity orders.

What are treatment foster homes and who will they target?

International research and practice provides strong evidence for delivering services to young offenders through community-based care. Suitable, professionally supervised accommodation in a community setting is a critical component in the continuum of care for young offenders. Treatment foster homes are proposed for young offenders where:

• they are too young to be accommodated in youth justice residences (child offenders);
• their offending behaviour would be better treated in a community setting;
• they are making a transition to community living from a residential programme.
Young offenders residing in these homes will access health, and education services, and appropriate programmes and services to address their offending behaviours and the underlying causes - as identified in their individualised plan.

How does this impact on young Maori offenders?

Approximately 54% of the 1,000 serious young offenders are Maori.

We will be looking to things that work effectively in existing programmes for Maori children and young people when introducing new orders and programmes. Over time we will also consider new Maori providers if we are satisfied they are effective and secure. We will monitor changes along the way to continually improve our responsiveness to Maori children, young people and their whanau.

ENDS

© Scoop Media