Youth Justice success in Rotorua

Policies for tackling youth crime are succeeding with the number of children and young people appearing in the courts in Rotorua and the wider Central North Island halved since 2007/8, Justice Minister Amy Adams says.

In the 2007/8 financial year, 276 children and young people (10-16-year-olds) appeared in Rotorua and other Central North Island's youth courts. By the 2014/15 financial year, this had dropped by 51 per cent to 135. Nationally, this figure dropped by 61 per cent from 4998 to 1959 over the same period.

Ms Adams says the Government remains committed to driving down youth crime.

"Our approach has always been to ensure that whenever a child or young person gets into difficulty that we work with them, their family and whanau to ensure behaviour doesn't escalate into more serious offending.

"The vast majority of children and young people who are stopped by police are supported by Youth Aid officers, Family Group Conferences and other means designed to prevent them from offending again."

Ms Adams says the Youth Crime Action Plan underpinned a concerted effort to address offending by children and young people.

"The plan is a 10 year strategy to 2023, to reduce crime committed by young people and help those who do offend to turn their lives around.

"Government agencies are working with communities in more than 30 locations to develop and implement local plans to create solutions to their youth offending problems. The plan is about empowering local communities, youth services and voluntary agencies that are working with young people."