LNP pledges $275m for intervention programs to support young offenders and their families

Community organisations that can show that 90 per cent of their program’s graduates have kept out of trouble for a year will be in line for long-term funding, if the LNP wins government later this month.

If the LNP wins government later this month, it has pledged to open up $100m in funding for community services with a proven record in diverting young people away from crime.

Organisations like Adapt Mentorship in Toowoomba would be in line to receive that funding, and its founder Adam Wenitong welcomed the move to provide more early intervention support for troubled young people.

“We are seeing a young cohort of primary school aged children coming through, at the moment there are no services funded for that cohort,” he said.

“This policy is needed in our community and in our state.

“We can run three or four hours of great programs with a child each week but they still have to go home. I hope early intervention will help solve some of the issues at home and make home part of the solution.”

Toowoomba North MP Trevor Watts, Adapt Mentorship founder Adam Wenitong and Currumbin MP Laura Gerber talking about the benefits of early intervention to prevent youth crime.

Adapt Mentorship runs a series of programs that support young people when they are released from detention, including a sport program held after Toowoomba Childrens Court closes each Thursday.

Its new program, Changing the Narrative, invites young people from the Youth Justice and Child Safety systems to tell their stories in a podcast hosted by Mr Wenitong and his partner.

About 15 people have participated to date and Mr Wenitong said it has been an important step in helping young people develop a sense of identity and belonging.

“The freedom and healing they get from telling their story is amazing,” he said.

“No one has ever asked them their story, from that we work on what their issues are, we build trust and we connect them with people in the community.”

Organisations will need to meet tough standards to secure long term funding under the LNP plan

The LNP’s Youth Justice spokeswoman Laura Gerber said groups will have to show that 90 per cent of children engaged with a service did not commit an offence during the program or for 12 months after, while 75 per cent need to re-engage with school or employment.

“We want that gold-standard early intervention to deliver on the KPIs on reducing crime and re-engaging kids in education and employment,” she said.

“It will ensure that place-based, community led programs that are making a real difference, are able to apply for funds so they can give these kids some hope, to stop them going down a life of crime.”

The funding pledge included a further $175m to provide 12 months of intensive rehabilitation support for children leaving youth detention.