Youth Justice – how we're doing

These tables show the trends in our youth justice data over the past two years.

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The graphs below show how we are performing across several measures. 

Note: COVID-19 may have impacted the June, September and December 2020 quarters. This is due to the alert level restrictions first implemented at the end of March 2020.

Outcomes Framework 5

Support following offending

Re engagement for those with Youth Justice history

Of rangatahi or young people with a past Youth Justice referral 75% had no contact with us this quarter. The proportion of rangatahi or young people who have only been in contact with Oranga Tamariki Youth Justice once has been increasing over the past two years (as shown in the blue bars). 

Graph text description – re-engagement for those with youth justice history

This chart shows the number of rangatahi who have not had any engagement with Youth Justice in the quarter as a proportion of the total rangatahi we have previously engaged with who are still eligible for Youth Justice.

Of all applicable aged rangatahi in the latest quarter:

  • 974 rangatahi who had only one previous family group conference did not have any engagement with Youth Justice in the quarter
  • 523 rangatahi who had multiple previous family group conferences did not have any engagement with Youth Justice in the quarter

Re-offending

FGC history for young people with current FGC

The number of FGCs this quarter increased by 10% in comparison to the September 21 quarter. For most rangatahi or young people (43%) this quarter this was their first Youth Justice FGC. 

Graph text description – FGC history for young people with current FGC

This chart shows the number of rangatahi who have had a family group conference in the quarter, split by the total number of family group conferences they have had in their lifetime, over the past two years.

Of all rangatahi who had a family group conference in the latest quarter:

  • 261 have had one family group conference
  • 205 have had two to four family group conferences
  • 102 have had five to nine family group conferences
  • 44 have had ten or more family group conferences

What is a family group conference (FGC)?

A youth justice family group conference gives a young person, along with their whānau, victims and professionals, a chance to help find solutions when they have offended.

There are three types of youth justice family group conference: an FGC for children who offend, an Intention to Charge FGC, and a Court Ordered FGC. 

Outcomes Framework 6

Less restrictive placements

Custodial placements in Youth Justice

The total number of custodial placements is has declined slightly this quarter in comparison to the previous quarter. Community-Base placements continued to increase and now make up 30% of all custodial placements.

Note: Work is underway to query the Police Custody figure as it does not align with other data sources.

Graph text description – custodial placements in youth justice

This chart shows the number of remand placements over the quarter by type of placement. This is shown by quarter for the last two years.

In the latest quarter:

  • 103 rangatahi had a community based placement
  • 222 rangatahi had a residence placement
  • 13 rangatahi were in Police Custody at some point

What are the different types of placements?

There are several different types of youth justice placements. These can include: 

Residence: A youth justice residence provides a safe and secure place for young people to stay who are in the custody of the Chief Executive following arrest, remand or sentence. Residences are locked facilities that provide 24-hour containment and care. 

Community-based placement: A young person in the custody of the Chief Executive can be placed in the community if their circumstances do not require them to be in a secure residence. Community-based placements can include group remand homes, supervised group homes and family homes among others. 

Police custody: A young person can be held securely by the Police immediately following arrest or on custodial remand while a court case is progressing. This can include those in custody of the Police or in the custody of the Chief Executive.

Shorter placements

Average days in custodial placements

Supervision with residence placements remain the longest at 103 days but decreased from 108 in the September 21 quarter. The length of these placements is strongly influenced by the sentence length given by the court. Policy Custody also decreased from 1.1 days to 1.0 days. Both Residence on Remand and Community-Based placements increased slightly in their average days.

Graph text description – average days on custodial remand

This chart shows the average length in days of each of the remand placement types, by quarter, for the past two years.

In the latest quarter:

  • The average length of time spent in Police Custody was 1.0 days
  • The average length of a Supervision With Residence placement was 102.8 days
  • The average length of a Residence on Remand placement was 39.1 days
  • The average length of a Community-based placement was 14.0 days

What are the different types of custodial placements?

There are several different types of custodial placements. These include: 

Supervision with Residence Orders (SWR): When a serious charge against a young person is proved before the Youth Court. The court can then order the young person to live in a youth justice residence under the custody of the Chief Executive. Supervision with residence placements are strongly influenced by the sentence length given by the court.

Custodial remand: When a young person is detained in the custody of the Chief Executive in a residence while a court case is progressing. The definition here also includes detention in the Chief Executive’s custody following arrest up to the first court appearance.

Community-based placement: A young person in the custody of the Chief Executive can be placed in the community if their circumstances do not require them to be in a secure residence. Community-based placements can include group remand homes, supervised group homes and family homes among others.

Police custody: A young person can be held securely by the Police immediately following arrest or on custodial remand while a court case is progressing. This can include those in custody of the Police or in the custody of the Chief Executive.

Outcomes Framework 7

Initial case decision

Status of cases after first court appearance

Shares of each outcome type have fluctuated slightly over time. For the vast majority of cases, young people are released on bail after their first court appearance. On average, 370 cases are closed each quarter.

Graph text description – status of cases after first court appearance

This chart shows the number of cases finalised in the quarter by the status of their release after the first court appearance. This is shown by quarter for the past two years.

In the latest quarter after the first appearance before a judge for each case:

  • 41 rangatahi were released on custodial remand
  • 49 rangatahi were released on custodial remand then later went onto bail
  • 308 rangatahi were released on bail
  • 14 rangatahi were released into the community

Escalation of bail

Final status of first bail

The share of final status after being bailed has fluctuated over time but has not shown a clear trend in any direction. The majority (71%) of all young people released on bail stay on bail.

Graph text description – final status of first bail

This chart shows the success on bail for each case which had bail in the quarter, for the past two years.

Of the cases that had some bail during the quarter:

  • 187 did not offend and stayed on bail throughout the quarter or until sentencing
  • 65 stayed on bail despite committing an additional offence
  • 84 offended and were moved from bail into custodial remand
  • 21 did not offend but were moved from bail into custodial remand.

Published: June 14, 2022