Key to keeping WA kids out of crime

Troubled kids are rejecting crime thanks to an unconventional scheme in Western Australia.

Lawford Bedding (Right) MG Corporation Chairman

Troubled kids are rejecting crime thanks to an unconventional scheme in Western Australia.

The Target 120 program was conceived in 2017 to help 120 families whose children were in regular contact with police. It took two years of planning to launch the scheme, which started small, but data from its first three years of operation is so promising that the McGowan Labor government has begun rolling it out across the state.

The expansion of the program to a total of 20 towns and suburbs is the McGowan government’s most substantial response yet to its juvenile detention crisis. WA Children’s Court president Hylton Quaill has described lengthy lockdowns at the state’s only children’s jail as illegal. When prison authorities struggled to deal with a cohort of young detainees who were self harming and defiant, the McGowan government moved the most “challenging” to a maximum security men’s prison.

In Target 120, a community youth officer works with each family to help them solve big and small problems in their lives. This can include helping them to find stable housing, to find the right treatment for an ongoing illness or help for kids struggling with their schoolwork. 

Since February 2019, 216 children aged 10 to 14 have participated.

Prior to the program, those children had each been in trouble with police between three and to 15 times. There were a combined total of 1347 police contacts among the participants. Since joining the program, the number of police contacts has reduced to 479, which is a 65 per cent reduction. 

There are currently 84 children in the program at 12 locations in Perth and regional WA. Soon the program will operate in eight more locations from the far north - including Broome, Halls Creek, Fitzroy Crossing and Debery - to the satellite city of Mandurah south of Perth.

Data provided by WA Police shows offending decreases amongst young people who have, or are currently participating: 42 percent of the children in the program have not had further police contact since joining. 

In the remote Kimberley town of Kununurra, Target 120 is run by the local Miriuwung and Gajerrong people through their commuity-controlled organisation, MG Corporation. Kids who participate have 78 per cent fewer encounters with police.

Chairman Lawford Benning said the corporation, whose workforce is 100 per cent Indigenous, works closely with government agencies including police and the local school to try to get to the reasons for a child’s offending. 

Lawford Benning, Miriuwung Traditional owner with his friend Mary Durack.

“We also provide fortnightly fishing trips for participants and a monthly back to country trip, which enables families to talk, relax and build strong connections in a safe and therapeutic environment,” he said.

Children spend an average 282 days in the program. It was established on evidence that there are critical moments in the early teenage years that can lead a child away from crime, especially around the age of 12 years. 

The McGowan government believes the success of the program is that it supports both the child and their family. It is an intervention designed to address the factors that lead to offending, which can be complex.

Until now, children who have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment in juvenile detention are not eligible for the program. However, the WA government is testing if the program can work with prolific offenders. It is currently working with 10 children from the Kimberley town of Broome who have either in juvenile detention or have been there.

The McGowan government has spend $31.5 million on the program. Advocates of justice reinvestment believe this is ultiamtely a saving because it will prevent hundreds and potentially thousands of children from entering a cycle of crime and incarceration.

WA Child Protection minister Simone McGurk.

WA Community Services minister Simone McGurk said Aboriginal community-controlled organisations such as MG Corporation were leading the way.

“There is no quick fix that will solve these issues, which have been generations in the making, but Target 120 is making a real difference to helping these kids get their lives on track,” she said.

“Target 120 has shown that with the right support it is possible to change the trajectory for the young people caught up in crime – and the results speak for themselves.

“But it’s important to remember that as proud as where are of the results of Target 120 to address the drivers of youth crime it will take a whole community effort to drive real and long-lasting change.”