Critics say there is ‘no evidence’ that government boot camps and classification of young serious offenders work

The government is pressing ahead with plans for new boot camps for young offenders despite opposition parties and youth justice advocates insisting there is no evidence they work.

On Sunday, the government More details of plan to establish military academy announced and a new category of “young serious offenders” that could sentence offenders as young as 14 years old.

The YSO category is for offenders aged 14-17 who have been convicted of two offences punishable by imprisonment for 10 years or more. They are assessed as likely to reoffend and previous interventions have proven ineffective.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said New Zealanders were tired of crime and current measures were not working.

“Let’s try something, let’s take a different approach, let’s do something different to try to get a different result,” he said.

The new approach aims to reduce youth crime by 15%.

The boot camp pilot will start in Palmerston North in late July with 10 young people who have been trained in the youth justice system.

Children’s Affairs Minister Karen Chhour said there would be a three-month residential phase, followed by a nine-month period to help offenders reintegrate into society.

“I don’t see this as a punishment,” Chhour said.

“I actually think it’s the biggest support network they could possibly have, actually giving them the resources to be the best they can be.

“These young people are smart, and they’ve lost hope. This is about giving them hope again.”

The pilot was designed by Oranga Tamariki, the police, the Defence Force, the Department of Justice, local Aboriginal people and other community groups.

Luxon said the panel would assess what measures were effective and what needed improvement.

Joel said the government had learned lessons from previous programs and the new system would focus on rehabilitation and provide pathways to education, training or employment.

“Each young person will have a plan based on their needs and based on why they came to us in the first place. Because we know that a lot of young people who come to the courts have often had pretty tough upbringings and do need more care.”

However, the opposition remains skeptical.

Green Party justice spokeswoman Tamatha Paul said the plan failed to address the root causes that led young people to commit crime.

“We’re talking about people whose brains are still developing. These are people who can’t think about the full consequences of their actions. These are people who are more susceptible to peer pressure. These are people who have a hard time controlling their emotions. Because we’re talking about children,” she said.

“There is no evidence that punishing children will change their behavior. Only love and care can do that. I know it sounds unrealistic, but at the end of the day, these kids never got that and that’s why they do what they do.”

Paul said this would lock in a cycle of intergenerational incarceration.

“You don’t lock up kids for doing something you don’t want them to do. You don’t, like, throw them into a room, close the door and tell them to think about what they did wrong. Because that doesn’t work,” she said.

“It doesn’t work in parenting, it doesn’t work in schools and it doesn’t work in these detention centres.”

Labor’s youth spokeswoman Willow-Jean Prime said the approach was like “an ambulance under a cliff” and was concerned the government had set up the YSO category before evaluating whether the pilot scheme was working.

“I am very concerned that this could cause harm to children who attend these programs. The minister needs to provide assurances that children will not be harmed through the camps in this trial,” she said.

Aaron Hendry, from youth development group Kick Back, said it was the government’s job to enable communities to meet the needs of children and throwing money at camps was just “punitive rhetoric”.

“It’s great to talk about reentry, it’s great to talk about wraparound services, but where are our communities investing in building the services and supports that we actually need to really make this work and keep our kids safe?” he said.

Luxon denied the camps would be “punitive” and reiterated the focus would be on reintegration. He said the government’s social investment approach would ensure young people had access to drug treatment or rehabilitation services.

During the election, National said the camps would target 15 to 17-year-olds, but the Government has since expanded it to 14-year-olds.

However, the YSO category was originally intended for offenders aged 10 to 17 years old.

Joel said the reason for the strict restrictions on this category was because children under 14 were heard by the Family Court rather than the Youth Court, so the government would address this issue in future legislation.

The Prime Minister said the government would now give “proper thought” and “appropriate advice” on the extension.

Hendry said he recommended the government work with the community.

“The opportunity here is that, in reality, only a small percentage of young people fall into this persistent offending category that the government is talking about, which means we know who these kids are. We know who their families are, we know who their families are, we know who their communities are.

“There’s an opportunity for government to really go deep into these communities and families and ask them, ‘What do you need to really take care of your children? How can we provide you with services and supports to achieve the best outcomes?'”