The Henwood Trust, New Zealand's leading sponsor of youth justice research, has recently published the latest version of a research paper by Gabrielle Maxwell and Peter Marsh called Effective Programmes, for youth at risk of continued and serious offending. The purpose of the paper is to generate the right criteria for assessing existing programmes for serious young offenders, which can also be used by providers looking for guidance when starting new programmes. The report is endorsed by Chief Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft, and NZ Christian Network National Director Glyn Carpenter says with that endorsement, the rest of us should take notice.

The research paper is subtitled ‘Something to do, someone to love, something to hope for' - a description of the three conditions for a happy life prescribed by EP Culverwell in 1914. This theme is stated to be the objective that all programmes for youth at risk should achieve, and is echoed by Judge Carolyn Henwood, in her forward to the paper. She reminds readers of the principles of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989, which says that young people must be kept safe, have their needs understood and met, and be given opportunities to develop in socially acceptable ways. She adds that this approach to rehabilitation must also be accompanied by accountability, and that, although hard to do, the work of effective youth justice is not impossible. She says that worthwhile programmes for young offenders must be delivered by providers with clear vision, a plan, and the capacity to deliver that plan.

The paper promotes the development of a theory, backed by evidence, of what it means for a young person to have a good life. It refers to the work of local and overseas researchers who have formulated lists of young peoples' criminogenic needs, which, if met, should have a positive impact on their risks of reoffending. The paper's authors say that all these needs should be considered when tools are being developed to assess young people, when programmes are being developed, and when programme outcomes are being evaluated.

The paper points to research that spells out a number of characteristics of successful programmes for young offenders.

Characteristics include:
- Something educational, e.g., special learning, parenting or employment;
- building parental confidence, and increasing bonds between young people and their parents, friends and communities;
- based on young people's strengths;
- developing positive, prosocial relations with peers, family and other adults;
- working across multiple environments;
- teaching new skills, new behaviours, new ways of thinking;
- using staff who are well trained and good role models or mentors for young people;
- operating outside the structures of the ‘formal justice system';
- providing good reintegration services post release from residential programmes;
- being able to demonstrate effectiveness, i.e., assessments of client needs, good record keeping, follow-up assessments;
- effective management of foster-care placements.

What doesn't work
The paper's authors feel it important to also highlight the kinds of programmes for young offenders that have been shown to be ineffective, or worse, to actually increase the likelihood of reoffending.

These include:
- arrest as the only response
- shock tactics and boot camps
- scared straight programmes
- intensive police monitoring
- counselling that does not address criminogenic needs
- spending too little time with high needs young people, or too much time with low needs ones
- programmes that display disrespect, unfairness, shame or insensitivity

Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft said he is excited by the publication of this paper. He said, to his knowledge, it is the first ‘homegrown' piece of New Zealand research that puts local youth justice programmes under the microscope. Judge Becroft said this paper is another great contribution to the scholarship and practice of youth justice in New Zealand.

This article is condensed from the March 2011 issue the Youth Court newsletter Caught in the Act, which can be downloaded here.

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