This report describes changes in the offending outcomes observed for 79 young people who between October 2010 and December 2013 graduated from 11 Military-style Activity Camps (MACs) held at Te Puna Wai ō Tuhinapo youth justice residence in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The MAC programme was introduced as part of a Fresh Start package of reforms in October 2010. MACs are intended to target the most serious and repeat young offenders, and are undertaken as part of a Supervision with Residence (SwR) order. 

All of these young people had a post-MAC follow-up period of at least 12 months so their follow-up offending could be observed. Caution must be taken in interpreting reoffending outcomes as they are not always a measure of the effectiveness of an intervention alone. For example, some people may reoffend less often simply due to the fact that they were caught by the Police and made to account for their actions, regardless of the particular intervention applied.

Key findings

Offending outcomes observed for the MAC graduates included:

• Eleven (14%) of the 79 young people did not reoffend (ie they did not come to the attention of Police with a new offence) in the 12 months after exiting the residence.
• Sixty (76%) of the 79 young people offended less often, and 62 (78%) reduced the seriousness of their offending in the 12 months after the MACs compared with the 12 months before.
• Theft and burglary were the most common offences committed by the young people. Overall, in the 12 months after the MACs, these offences reduced by 43% and 57% respectively compared to the 12 months prior.
• Violent offending by the 79 young people reduced by 54% in the 12 months after the MACs compared with the 12 months before.
• While the majority of young people reduced the frequency and seriousness of their offending, around one-fifth of MAC graduates increased the frequency and/or seriousness of their offending after the MACs.
• Twenty-four (30%) of the 79 young people were imprisoned or received a new Supervision with Residence (SwR) order in the 12 months after completing a MAC. This rate was higher for Europeans than Māori, although due to small numbers, this result needs to be treated with caution.

Further research
The reoffending outcomes observed for MAC graduates appear very similar to those for all young people who have received SwR orders. However, to test differences, a robust statistical approach such as a matched comparison analysis is required. Such an analysis was not in scope for this report, but could usefully be undertaken in the future.

Some of the MAC graduates spent time out of the community on custodial remand or subject to custodial orders/sentences which may have had some effect on their rates of offending. The feasibility of calculating an adjusted reoffending rate that reflects actual time spent in the community could usefully be investigated in the future