Fresh Start Reforms in Operation
20 July 2011.
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett today released Fresh Start Reforms in Operation - a progress report on the implementation of the Fresh Start youth justice reforms, which includes current trends in youth offending.
The Fresh Start reforms, introduced in October 2010, are the most fundamental change to the youth justice system in the last 20 years. Youth Court judges now have more options to deal with offenders, including powers to order mentoring programmes, alcohol and drug rehabilitation, and parenting education, and the ability to impose longer sentences for our most serious offenders.
The report shows there has been good progress on rolling out the new programmes and initiatives, and while it's too early to make judgements on the effectiveness of the reforms, information gathered so far shows promise.
The report also highlights the work currently underway to support the improvement of the youth justice and child offender systems. This includes ensuring there are strong monitoring systems in place to measure the effectiveness of interventions, and help inform future development of, and improvements to, programmes and initiatives.
