By: Anna Whyte
The Post: July 1, 2024
Official advice on boot camps warned against traditional military-based programmes for young people who have experienced trauma or have a disability.
Advice given to Children’s Minister Karen Chhour on the introduction of military academies from Oranga Tamariki in December said the traditional military-based approaches for young offenders with trauma or disabilities would not lead to better long-term outcomes.
About 80% of young people in youth justice residences had a disability and/or mental health diagnosis.
It said young people with serious and persistent offending behaviour had high and complex needs and were likely to have experienced trauma, abuse and family violence, have a disability, have issues with addiction and mental health, and/or poor outcomes in education. It added that traditional boot camp models were likely to be detrimental to young people with a history of abuse and family violence.
“International research has shown that boot camps are one of the least effective interventions when it comes to reducing offending and anti-social behaviour among young people,” the advice stated, saying boot camps with counselling and a primary focus on rehabilitation were significantly more effective.
It said that almost all young people in youth justice residences — 97% according to a review in 2021 — had a history in care or protection, and the majority had a history involving significant and chronic physical abuse, exposure to family violence, neglect, sexual abuse, and exposure to adults with mental health issues and substance misuse.
The advice said the youth cohort with serious or persistent offending were more likely to have either a confirmed or suspected mental health or disability related diagnosis (80%), attempted suicide (20%), have significant learning difficulties (90%) and had been physically harmed more than three times in the last year (more than 50% of boys and 25% of girls).
It recommended therapeutic components, trauma-informed approaches and increase support during at the start.
The advice said international and New Zealand research showed military style training would not be effective interventions for young people with disabilities.
It said alternative or significant adaptation would need to be made if a military academy programme was introduced, “to mitigate the known issues for disabled young people and minimise additional harm caused”.
Labour’s mental health spokesperson Ingrid Leary said the advice was alarming.
“Not only are boot camps shown not to work, these documents show the clear danger they pose to the majority of young people who will be forced into them — given the significantly high number of young people in youth justice who have experienced family violence, abuse, addiction, trauma, disability and suicidal ideation.
She said it was “absolutely irresponsible” for the boot camps to proceed.
Children’s Minister Karen Chhour detailed last week how the boot camps would start, saying a pilot would begin soon in Palmerston North.
The initial pilot would see 10 young offenders be sentenced to a year-long programme, based out of Oranga Tamariki’s youth justice facility in Palmerston North. They would spend three months in a custodial setting, she said, followed by nine months in the community.
“Participants will follow a specially created curriculum and syllabus, with daily activities to support their health, learning and wellbeing. This will include military-style activities,” she said.
When the military-style boot camps start, only young offenders labelled as “Serious Young Offenders” in the Youth Court would be eligible for the programme.
Chhour said that label would be an option for people aged 14 to 17 years old, who were deemed likely to re-offend, and who could be sentenced to 10-plus years in jail.
Last week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was asked about the military academy approach. “We’re taking them out of the community so they don’t cause harm in the community, and we’re making powerful, targeted interventions in those young people’s lives and giving them the very best shot to turn their lives around,” he said.
“I don’t care what you say about whether it does or doesn’t work — we could have that intellectual conversation all day long — but we are, dammit, going to try something different, because we cannot carry on getting the results that we’ve been getting.”
The advice stated that “evidence tells us that military academies alone are not effective at reducing recidivism for youth offenders”.
“A military academy could take various forms and involve community and/or iwi Māori organisations.
“Providing rehabilitative and transition support, trauma-informed approaches, and building in components of best practice is considered essential if military academies progress (alternatively other programmes incorporating these elements could be progressed).”
- The Post
Last Updated 02/07/2024
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