Military-Style Academy Pilot: Final evaluation

The Military-Style Academy Pilot aimed to help a small group of serious and persistent young offenders turn their lives around, by giving them increased structure and support through an intensive intervention.

The programme provided a full wraparound programme. It combined therapeutic care, intensive mentorship, and whānau engagement. The young people were encouraged to develop new skills and move into education, training or employment.

Janet Mays, Programme Lead of the Military-Style Academy, said of the evaluation report:

“This evaluation reinforces what our kaimahi observed during the Pilot – that with the right structure, support, and relationships, even young people with histories of serious offending can create positive change and better outcomes for themselves.

“Going into the Pilot, we were realistic about the likelihood of reoffending. We have previously confirmed that 7 of the participants reoffended to a threshold that required them to return to residence for a time.

“One of our key aims was to see a reduction in the frequency and severity of offending by these rangatahi.”

The results in this evaluation are encouraging: 67 % of participants reduced the frequency or seriousness of their offending, violent offences dropped by two-thirds, and 59 % showed overall improvement – triple the rate of a matched comparison group that did not go through the Pilot.

Reoffending is not the only measure of success. The programme also created a safer environment during the residential phase, with no incidents of harm among the rangatahi.

Psychometric assessments show improvements across wellbeing, whānau and cultural connections. The rangatahi engaged in training and employment opportunities, and through the Pilot their whānau also received holistic support.

Ms Mays added:

“We have seen improved health outcomes for these young people, we have seen whānau re-engagement, and we have seen attitudinal changes including the young men showing remorse and writing letters of apology to their victims.

“These are significant changes for a group of rangatahi with complex needs and entrenched patterns of offending behaviour.

“The Pilot has taught us a lot, especially about the need for a sustainable staffing model, mana whenua engagement, and early planning so there is structured support as they transition back to the community.

“We can learn from this Pilot and refine any future programmes to ensure we are setting rangatahi up to not only make better choices and stay out of the criminal justice system, but to go on to thrive within their whānau and communities.”

We want to acknowledge the passing of one of the participants during the Pilot. The loss of this young person and their potential was felt by the rangatahi, kaimahi and whānau involved in the programme.