The Reducing Youth Offending Programme is to be refocused following a review of the pilot by Corrections and Child, Youth and Family.
The scaled-down programme will build on international research and the initial programme’s results to improve its impact on reducing re-offending.
The Reducing Youth Offending Programme was established in 2003 as a three-year pilot trialling the use of Multi- Systemic Therapy (MST) to treat 14 - 18-year-old offenders at high risk of progressing to chronic adult offending.
MST is an intensive family and community-based treatment addressing the many causes of serious antisocial behaviour in young offenders.
Clare Allison, the pilot’s National Coordinator, says that the pilot has produced a wealth of information for both departments. Clare was employed jointly by Corrections and Child, Youth and Family.
“The pilot shows that Corrections and Child, Youth and Family worked together well and that MST shows promise for reducing re-offending by youth offenders in New Zealand.
“However, initial results showed the programme did not markedly reduce reoffending by young offenders but also indicated that results could be improved by changing referral criteria and increasing focus on service delivery,” says Clare.
Under the proposed changes to referral criteria, offenders managed by Corrections will no longer be eligible for the programme as the results indicated MST is more effective at reducing re-offending by offenders in the Child, Youth and Family system than offenders in the Corrections system.
“This makes sense because offenders in the Corrections system tend to be older, have more entrenched offending behaviour, and have weaker family relationships,” says Clare.
The needs of young offenders in the Corrections system will be taken into account in the development of its new more intensive rehabilitation programmes.
Under 20-year-olds* make up around 14 percent of offenders serving community-based sentences and 8 percent of offenders serving prison-based sentences.
Under 20-year-olds have the highest rates of re-offending: 45 percent of youth on communitybased sentences and 70 percent of youth sentenced to prison time will be re-convicted within 12 months of the end of their sentence. This is approximately double the rate of offenders in their 30s and 40s.
* Statistics are not available specifically for the 14 - 18-year-old age group that were treated in the Reducing Youth Offending Programme.
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ISSN 1178-8453