Anyone who listened to the Government launch it’s boot camp policy last year could have been forgiven for thinking that it was the first and only attempt at early intervention programme in our youth justice system. But we have a number out there already, and a lot of them are working.
Te Hurihanga was one of them. I’ve been lucky enough to visit this unique programme in Hamilton a couple of times. It takes in a small number of young offenders, some of which have committed 25-30 offences, and works with them and their families for 18 months- right through to final job or training placements. None of the graduates have re-offended to date.
The programme was reviewed recently. The review found that the programme was making a difference, concluding:
Results indicate the programme’s intermediate outcomes have been achieved for most young people. The young people themselves and their families/whaanau were generally confident about their futures. External stakeholders were also confident that young people nearing the end of the programme, and those who had completed the programme, had made positive changes.
Yes it’s new, and needs a bit more time and monitoring. Yes it’s expensive (the government has tried to claim it costs more than $600,000 per graduate by dividing the cost of the entire programme plus construction across each individual, a calculation a senior Judge has said is akin to telling the first patient through a brand new hospital that their op cost $60m.) But just how expensive is a young person who enters and re-enters our criminal justice system throughout their adult life- and not just on the state, but on families, and victims. And that’s before you even take into account lost potential.
Yesterday the Government stopped funding Te Hurihanga, and in my book, showed where its priorities lie.
Also, given that 10 additional people are about to complete the course, the actual figure drops to roughly half that cost (assuming a similar record).
L
That news makes me really sad. I have yet to read a negative, or even neutral report on the work of Te Hurihanga. I despair of this government’s crime and punishment mentality. It’s so short sighted.
But just how expensive is a young person who enters and re-enters our criminal justice system throughout their adult life- and not just on the state, but on families, and victims.
Hard to fault that.
Yesterday the Government stopped funding Te Hurihanga, and in my book, showed where its priorities lie.
The article I read also said:
“The programme is to be replaced by a similar but more cost-effective one that will allow more young people to participate, and will more closely align to the Government’s Fresh Start initiative,” he said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10623537
Would’ve been nice if you’d commented on that, unless there isn’t enough information.
StephenR, according to the release the provider for a replacement programme has yet to be selected, and the programme implemented will be based on National’s military-style Fresh Start initiative. Make no mistake, this announcement marks the end of the successful Te Hurihanga programme, which is what Jacinda is lamenting here.
It’s hard to specualte on whether the replacement programme will be as successful without knowing specifics, but the evidence around military style youth justice initiatives is not promising.
There has just been a very interesting interview on Radio NZ about this with Judge Carolyn Henwood who has been involved getting this up and running, getting the infrastructure the best possible staff. She explained that it was a complex, multi-systemic programme for the worst NZ teenage offenders, that many people and groups had been working on for years, and was just starting to prove success. Now judges will have no such place to send these offenders. Locals protested when it was opened and have since become supporters. Interview probably on Radio NZ website.
The loss of early intervention programmes goes back way further than people who have offended. When Aorangi School was closed, Project: Diamond was closed with it.
It targeted a range of needs but a number of the children involved were from families with criminal histories and it was being proven to make a difference in their lives.
The programme has a 40 year history of success in changing the lifes of children as it is based on the Nurture Groups in the UK. But rather than shifting it when the school (apperently) had to be closed it, and the children already involved, have simply been abandoned.
This goverment shows NO commitment to making or suppoprting a positve changes in society but believes bullying people will make them into “better” citizens despite all the evidence to the contrary
“Mr Power said the cost, at $630,000 for each of the graduates to date, was too high.”
Yet again, another blatent misuse and fudging of data to suit the mandate and unresearched (might I add incompetent) stand point this govt takes on anything they did not think of themselves, or actually works. I would hasten to add that the cost mentioned above is the full cost of building the facility – not the actual cost of running it. To use the costs of getting it started is simply wrong – and I have to agree with Tama – this govt bullies and lies to get its agendas across.
The blatent misuse of data above is the same as in the case with Aorangi. The govt lied to the public about the real costs of that as well – just when is the public going to realise how often they have had the wool pulled over their eyes and wake up to the incompetence of the govt.
Obviously in ensuring that there are prisoners for the privately owned prisons to imprison and make a profit.
Jacinda i dont know very much about the Te Hurihanga program but from what i have read on your blog it sounds like a very good program for young offenders.
As a Hamilton-based MP, I have kept in close contact with Te Hurihanga since its opening. Protesters at the official opening ceremony (NIMBY’s) used the back of National MP, David Bennett’s campaign hoardings for their placards, with the MP himself in attendance to protest the facility being opened.
Still, I thought this Government would overlook that type of politiking, to see that this pilot programme had worked to turned the lives around of angry young men who were destined to cause major grief in our community and much of their lives in jail. Local police called it a “godsend.”
There has been no consultation with those who worked on the programme or the community who supported it about what a cheaper version might look like.
Who knows if it will work? What we do know from past experience is that boot camps don’t and Te Hurihanga has.
Jacinda – I agree, I just think that this government and to be honest, the previous Labour government seem to be missing the boat when it comes to our youth. Why is there all this haggling over one group that works to prevent teens re-offending versus others? How come no one is big enough to stop re-inventing the wheel and work with the programs that are already in place and are actually working? Boot camps on the face of it seem like a brilliant idea, but if research shows that they don’t work then how come the government is so determined to pursue them anyway? What makes them think they are above sound research? Is it really about the teens or is it about them stamping their mark on the issue and spinning a bit of PR rhetoric? How come the plight of these teens continued to get worse, bar the successful 25 from Phil Goff’s course, during the 9 years that Labour was in government? These are all things that I ponder. It frustrates me immensely that there is just too much politics about these kids and not enough of doing work with them. These children come from horrible homes – no one can argue with that. To work with these teens we need to not only work with them directly, but work with their communities and the families struggling within. This is where all our money should be going as these families are producing our next generation of young adults and adults. What I would like to see is the Family and Community Services arm of the Ministry of Social Development actually stop being ambiguous and PC and start embracing ALL the non-profit/community groups out there that work with trouble children, teens and their families. A one-stop shop. At the moment it is chaos, half the groups don’t even know about the other and in fact, even the government departments such as CYFs and MSD don’t even know if some groups are still running! I had a conversation with a senior ranking manager at CYFs the other day and he had no idea that Jigsaw Family Services (an umbrella non-profit group that works with all the small community groups re family violence etc) is still running. This is appalling and is an example of the left arm not knowing what the right arm is doing and with regards to Jigsaw, that they are just too PC as no one actually knows they exist or what they really do (e.g. advocate against all forms of abuse and work to support at-risk families). If we want to see change in our crime rate we need to deal to the ones committing offenses now and prevent the ones that are likely to do so, from going down the same path. It is not rocket science. Co-ordinate what we already have, throw funding at it and resources including more staff (e.g. shift some out of the bloated public service and have them doing something real & productive) and THEN we will see real results. It does take a village to raise a child people – but our village is too busy fighting with each other.
@Lew- An excellent point. The provider behind Te Hurihanga estimates the cost of the programme is roughly $170,000 per graduate- significantly less than the Govt’s inflated figure.
@StephenR- You’re right, there isn’t really enough info out there yet on what the Govt might substitute it with. Reports I’ve heard from those in the sector suggest that the Fresh Start style of initiatives are based on the principle of ’short and sharp’ interventions. One of the reasons Te Hurihanga was so successful was the length of time it worked with young offenders, and the fact that it was so intensive. I doubt these elements will survive given it’s a cost cutting exercise. Will post any further details I hear though.