Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said on the 29th of July, 10 young people will begin their time on the Military Style Academy Pilot.
“The first three-months they will be at Te Au rere a te Tonga in Palmerston North where there will be a focus on:
- Structure and routine
- Addressing criminal behaviours
- Physical activities
- Education and vocational training
- Preparation for work and finding employment
- Specific rehabilitative, therapeutic and cultural components required for each young person.
“Following the residential component, the nine-month stage of the programme will be focused on supporting the young person to transition back into the community. Whānau will be engaged where possible for the full 12 months of the programme.
“There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to youth offending. The Military Style Academy Pilot is just one tool we can use to support youth people to turn their lives around and get back on track.
“The key difference from what we’ve done before in these types of programmes is that most of the time will be spent focusing on transition back to the community, making sure these young people are well set up for the future including a pathway into education, training or employment and working with the families of the young people.
“Oranga Tamariki has worked closely with the New Zealand Defence Force, the Ministry of Justice, New Zealand Police and other community groups to design the pilot.
“This pilot will help both address the offending behaviour of the young people and ensure they are held accountable, and face up to, their actions. This is an important part of our plan to address youth crime rates so that New Zealanders feel safe on our streets and in their communities.”
A young person will be eligible to be declared a Young Serious Offender if:
- They are 14 to 17 years old at the time of offending;
- Have had two offences punishable by imprisonment of 10 years or more proven in court;
- And are assessed as being likely to reoffend, with previous interventions having proven unsuccessful.
That includes being able to sentence young offenders to a Military-Style Academy Order (they need be 15 to 17 years old at the time of offending to be eligible for this).
A Youth Court judge will have the final say on making a YSO declaration.
That legislation comes into force later this year.
Broadcaster Chris Lynch is an award winning journalist who also produces Christchurch news and video content for domestic and international companies. Chris blogs at Chris Lynch Media - where this article was sourced.
5 comments:
Youth offending would plummet if NZ introduced the idea of “adult time for adult crime.”
That seems a comprehensive course. I hope it has good results.
As an tutor what I would also like recorded somewhere in these offenders' records is the history of their educational path leading up to their offending Eg What schools they attended, level of literacy and numeracy, whether they were bullied at school or have a history of hyperactivity and dyslexia.
Juvenile court judges have noted the correlation between illiteracy and offending even on TVNZ. Schools and our Min.of Education need to start being made accountable. Dominant Progressive Education, however has always had a callous disregard for those who fail in the basics. This needs to change.
OK, I also believe education begins in the home but schools' programmes are much easier to change than home environments. A good education system can overcome horrible home backgrounds .There are many examples of exemplary teachers, like Marva Collins having high achievement with students from drug ridden, high unemployment city slums. When my mother, using old school methods correct methods, taught in low decile Otago schools in the 1930s, every child achieved to the correct level for their age. Stupid sociology prefers to ignore these heroes.
and our traditional NZ schooling.
A nutritious diet is also a factor. There have been studies where this made a big difference.
The camps will acheive little. Modern attitudes, laws, and pedantic applications of, and risk of utu from relatives, will prevent any seriously persuasive actions by the keepers. And most of the customers being maori, presumably the mentors will have to also be, hardly a positve. Effective older methods from the past warrant a try. Transport 1840s atyle is now difficult and the guards would be at great danger. Time in the stocks, or a march through town in chains, might prompt a reconsideration of attitude. .
Exactly Robert, If the training program includes any reference or indulgences of Maori cultural understandings. The program will fail.
They wil become just another institution of indoctrination.
You can bet there perceived success will be demonstrated by their ability to perform the haka on graduation day.
Yes, Gaynor. Here's a golden opportunity to do a comprehensive study on these kids, all the way down to the physical dimensions and abilities; their literacy, mental and problem solving capabilities; through to their knowledge and abilities in terms of every day life (from bed making, to cooking, to household budgeting etc,) - all at the start of the course, and then again at the end, before release back into society. It should then be followed-up, rather like that multidisciplinary study of the early 70's.
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