new zealand today: future directions from the perspective of the youth court of new zealand...

New Zealand Today: Future Directions

From the perspective of the Youth Court of New Zealand

Philanthropy New Zealand Conference Wellington - 28March 2007

Andrew Becroft

Principal Youth Court Judge

Te Kaiwhakawa Matua o Te Kooti Taiohi

2 Philanthropy New Zealand Conference - 28 March 2007 Te Kooti Taiohi o AotearoaThe Youth Court of New Zealand

Some of the great all time lies ...

At home

“This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you …”

“You look great in that …”

“I only read it for the articles …”

“The camera doesn’t lie …”

“Sorry I’m late, the traffic was really busy tonight …”


Some great lies ….

At work

“The cheque is in the post …”

“Actually, I just dictated a letter to you before you rang…”

“I’m sorry, he/she is in a meeting …”

“I only had half a glass of wine over lunch…”



In sport

“I’ve always been drug free …”Ben Johnson, 1988, after winning Olympic 100 meters final

“I have always been faithful to Victoria …”David Beckham

“I didn’t add anything to the tea, Mr Mains”Susie the Waitress

“I don’t own a mobile phone…”Shane Warne



In World Affairs

“That wooden horse is just a gift, honest …”

“I have brought peace in our time …” 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain

“The Beatles? They are a passing phase…” 1965, Billy Graham

“There can be no whitewash in the White House” 1971, President Richard Milhouse Nixon

“I did not have sexual relations with that woman” 1998, President William Jefferson Clinton


3 big misunderstandings about Youth Justice ...

1. Youth offending is sky rocketing out of control

2. Youth offenders are all the same

3. Concerned individuals and the community can’t do

much to stop youth offending…now or in the future


Outline

1. What I see now

the real picture about youth offending and youth

offenders - fact or fiction? (See handout sheet)

2. Philanthropic priorities now

3. The Future?


What is the real picture about youth offending?

“There are a number of children running about the

streets of Dunedin . . . without the control of parents. If

the government does not take them in hand . . . they will

become . . . members of a criminal class”.


What is the real picture about youth offending? (contd)

“There is a definite relationship between the increase in

the number of children on the streets and the increase in

juvenile crime”.

First headline from The Otago Daily Times 1884; second

in 1886


Capital & Coast Youth Forensic Services Statistics: 2000-2004

n = 276

• 83% Male

• Maori over-represented (48%)• 70% faced cannabis and alcohol issues

– 16% drug dependent; 14% alcohol dependent

• 18% attending school; 28% attending course/training; 45% unemployed

• 45% excluded/expelled from school• 55% attended more than one school/transient• 60% in CYFS care at some stage• 12% living with both parents; 28% with one parent


2. Philanthropic priorities: The “Four Legs”

• A helpful framework

• Vital is understanding a young person’s life

• All here are directly or indirectly involved in one of these 4

legs

• The four areas

– Home

– School

– Friends/Peers

– Community


Home

• Very few serious youth offenders from stable, two-

parent, homes

– not saying “every solo mother breeds a criminal”

– not making judgement about separation

• Most serious young offenders lack a positive, male,

role model

• Family disadvantage - dysfunction usually of

fundamental importance


School

• “Increasing attendance and participation in school by

young people a key factor in reducing anti-social

behaviour and offending”

• Not all truants/non-enrolled young people offend: but

overwhelming majority of offenders are truants or not

enrolled

• May not be causative; but a clear link exists

• Every young person kept at school is one less

potential career criminal


Friends/Peers

• Young people seek out role models like heat seeking

missile

• Only issue: who is it that they associate with?


Community “Connectedness”

“A kid in sport stays out of Court”

sign outside Blenheim airport

• A young person involved in sport, or any organised,

positive community activity, stays out of Youth Court

• A very protective factor - builds resilience: good

friends, good role models, good discipline, fulfilment

and success


Some suggested priorities...

• I am no expert

• “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread”

• Not here to preach or lecture

• My aim to provoke and encourage reflection


Some suggested priorities...

1. Encouraging family stability

2. Parenting programmes - especially those working with “at risk”

mothers, particularly single, young parents

3. Family based early intervention programmes:

eg Early Start and the Family Help Trust

4. The battle is won and lost by age 5.

Saint Ignatius Loyola was right!

5. Targetted, focused, early intervention programmes that work


Some suggested priorities

1. Mentoring programmes, especially for boys

2. Programmes designed to keep young people involved

in education or a meaningful alternative

3. “Programmes” that “work”for young people and which

build connectednessDrug and alcohol

Mental Health

Serious young offenders

Note: Youth Offending Services Effectiveness Checklist: Kaye McLaren - MSD.


3. Future Directions

Government Statistician says….

The Changing Face of New ZealandBrian Pink

Government Statistician

THE AGEING OF OUR POPULATION

A Phenomena In Many OECD Countries

Enter 'Presentation Title - Section Title' here - View menu, Header/Footer

22

2001 Census Usually Resident Population Count

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100+

Thousand

Males Females


23

Population age structure – 2004 and 2051

75 50 25 0 25 50 75

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100+

(000)

2004 2051

Age (years)


24

Ageing Population, New Zealand, 1966-2051

Age group(years)1966

6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Percent

Males Females

Median Age 26

0-4

10-14

20-24

30-34

40-44

50-54

60-64

70-74

1996

6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Percent

Median Age 33

2051

6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Percent

Median Age 46


25

5-yearly changePopulation

Population aged 65+ years

0

50

100

150

1951 1971 1991 2011 2031 20515 years ended

(000)Estimated Projected (Series 5)

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1951 1971 1991 2011 2031 2051

Million

Estimated Projected

Series 5

Series 9

Series 1

POPULATION AND THE CHANGING ETHNIC COMPOSITION


27

Projected Share of 5-17 Year Age Group in Ethnic Groups, Series 6

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

2001 2006 2011 2016 2021

Percent

At 30 June

Asian

Pacific

Mäori

EDUCATION AND WORK

Implications of Population Dynamics


29

Educational age groups

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

1951 1976 2001 2026 2051

(000)

Historical Projected (Series 5)5–12 years

13–17 years

18–22 years

GROWING REGIONAL DIFFERENCES

The Rate and Composition of Change


31

North-South population distribution

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1901 1926 1951 1976 2001 2026

Percent

North Island

South Island

Estimated Projected


32

Projected regional population change2001–2026

West CoastSouthland

TaranakiGisborne

OtagoNorthlandWellington

MarlboroughWaikato

CanterburyNEW ZEALANDNelson

Bay of PlentyTasman

Auckland

Hawke's Bay

-20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50Percent

Manawatu-Wanganui

SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS

A Few Broad Challenges


• 35% of Mäori students and 27% of Pacific students left school with no qualifications in 2002, compared with 12% of all other students

• Little change between 1991-2002

Human Capital

Proprotion of School Leavers with No Qualifications

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Year

PercentMaori Pacific All Other


35

Projected ‘age of retirement’to maintain the 2001 ‘aged dependency ratio’1

1. Number of people aged 65+ years per 100 people aged 15–64 years.

62

64

66

68

70

72

74

76

78

80

2001 2011 2021 2031 2041 2051

Age (years)

0

Series 5Series 1

Series 9


36

Projected Dependency Ratio, 2004, 2016 & 2026

5: Projected Dependency Ratio, 2004, 2016 & 2026(Number of Employed to the Number Receiving Government Transfers or Superannuation)

(based on 2004 labour force partcipation rates and recipient rates)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

2004 (actual) 2016 2026

Year

Rat

io

Ratio of Employed People tothose Receiving a Benefit


The real solution???


Conclusion

“To nourish children and raise them against the odds is

in any time, any place more valuable than to fix bolts in

cars or design nuclear weapons”

Marilyn French

“There is always one moment in childhood when the door

opens and lets the future in”

“The Power and the Glory”, Graham Greene


Hemi’s song

I’m sorry for all the pain that I causedPutting your family through something I could never have stoppedAnd now I’m staring at the stars thinking of what i have doneSomething stupid of course what was I thinking ofLooking for my mentality but that was lostBack in the days BC id be pinned to a crossBut instead I’m writing this rhyme because you gave me a chanceSo in the words that I writeYou should know that they came from my heartYou opened my eyes despising what I had doneLook above and find the strength to carry on….


Hemi’s song verse 2

The stupid things I’ve done in my lifeCreating enemies that want to bring a lot of strifeWe’d fightOn the streetsIs probably where you would see meDrugged out struggling to breathBut now im down on my kneesWith a million apologiesPlease time freeze wish I could turn back the timeRewind but its all over and doneA new era begunThe sun has risenAnd its shining throughThis song I compose is dedicated to you.

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