Youth unit cheap: critics

It's cheaper to keep young offenders at Hillcrest youth justice unit Te Hurihanga than send them to jail, according to Opposition leader Phil Goff.

Figures given by the Government over its dumping of the successful programme at the controversial Hamilton facility were "disingenuous", he claimed.

On Monday, the Government announced the Te Hurihanga programme would close at the end of June, citing the cost. Justice Minister Simon Power said based on the eight teenage boys who had graduated from the programme since Te Hurihanga opened in 2007, it had cost the Justice Ministry an average of $630,000 per youth.

However, Mr Goff said 10 youths were still in the nine to 18-month programme and therefore the average cost would be far less if they were allowed the chance to graduate. The department's assessment of costs per client based on maximum usage of the programme is $171,000.

Mr Goff said this figure "wouldn't even cover a year-and-a-half by each of these boys in a prison cell which is where they were destined for unless there was a successful intervention".

The cost of prison was about $100,000 per year but adding costs such as police and court time, and the cost to the community and victims made the cost of crime "absolutely horrendous". "The decision to close it is stupid, it's short-sighted."

An evaluation of Te Hurihanga for the Justice Ministry found it had been effectively established. Because of the small number of participants, the evaluation could not measure whether the programme reduced reoffending but results indicated "intermediate outcomes".

Meanwhile, Te Hurihanga's landlord wants to know what the Government is planning at the facility from July before it gives its support to any new programme. Anglican Action's Karen Morrison-Hume said clauses in the lease gave the Anglican Diocese the ability to assess any new programmes. "We are completely devastated by the news and really can't believe that something as wonderfully successful as that has gone."

A spokeswoman for Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said the number of people housed at the eight-bed residential facility was unlikely to be increased and instead the length of stay was expected to be shorter. This would mean the Hamilton City Council's variation 13 change to the district plan which makes it harder for managed care facilities to set up with more than eight residents would likely not apply.

- © Fairfax NZ News