Doubt cast on Govt plans to order offenders into mentoring

The Government looks likely to have to back away from plans for Youth Court judges to order young offenders into mentoring programmes with volunteer mentors.

Mentoring programme organisers attending a national conference in Mangere yesterday had mixed views on the proposed new youth mentoring court orders, which are in the Government's "Fresh Start" youth justice reform bill now before Parliament's social services committee.

Russell Beal of Family Works Otago said he had worked with young people directed to attend programmes when he was a probation officer, and he believed it would be possible to direct offenders into mentoring schemes.

"It would be far better if they came to us of their own accord because they will have a greater degree of motivation, but that [a court order] doesn't make it impossible for us to engage them," he said.

But Dave Marshall of the nationwide Big Brothers Big Sisters programme, which matched 400 young people with mentors last year, said he would struggle to find volunteers willing to take on "top-end offenders".

"We only take volunteers. I'm not sure if it will work if the young person is required to attend," he said.

He is on a working party with officials designing the Fresh Start system and said the Government was now looking at using professional "mentors" to work with youth offenders.

The Fresh Start bill would also give the Youth Court powers to order young offenders' parents to attend parenting courses, and to order offenders into drug and alcohol treatment and other programmes longer than the six months of most Youth Court penalties.

Andrew Connolly of the South Kaipara Men and Family Centre, which works with family violence, said compulsory orders for young people to attend would be "fraught with difficulties".

"Working with adults and youth, when people [act] voluntarily they link in because it's a successful relationship," he said.

Youth Mentoring Network chairwoman Ann Dunphy said relationships had to be "genuine things from people's hearts".

"You can't order a relationship," she said.

* A helping hand

Mentoring programmes match young people and older people (mentors) with similar interests who can help them achieve constructive goals.

Mentors are usually volunteers who commit to spending time with a young person regularly for at least a year.

The Youth Mentoring Network lists more than 30 mentoring programmes from Kaitaia to Invercargill.

* www.youthmentoring.org.nz