The Government has announced it will expand its early intervention programme targeting recidivist youth crime offenders to Hamilton, Christchurch and Auckland City.
Minister, Kelvin Davis said the initial rollout of the programme in Counties Manukau and Waitākere had been incredibly successful alongside the Kotahi te Whakaaro programme.
“Only 28% of those referred from the fast track, or ‘circuit breaker’, pilot through to the multi-agency teams have been referred again, showing the impact quick support can have,” the Minister said.
He said the approach ensured that once a child is identified or apprehended by Police for offending behaviour, information is shared with Oranga Tamariki within 24 hours, a referral is completed, and an agreed plan developed by community providers within 48 hours.
“Youth crime has decreased significantly over the past decade, showing the Government’s approach to getting youth offenders out of the justice system and back into school, training and work is the best way to prevent future crime,” Mr Davis said.
Also in today’s Budget announcements, Police Minister, Ginny Andersen confirmed funding would be provided for the delivery of ReFrame, a programme to transform and modernise the way Police work and the technology frontline officers use, reducing administration time and freeing up officers to focus on core policing.
“ReFrame will overhaul Police’s operating approach by increasing investment into back-office specialist support to the front line, to get better outcomes for victims and to ease the load for on the ground officers,” Minister Andersen said.
“The new approach will modernise how Police operate, allowing officers to use technology to better manage the evidence and the information they collect.
“We want to give Police the tools and processes which allow them to work smarter, so they can focus on effective investigations, make better and fairer decisions for both victims and offenders and give victims the support they need,” she said.
