Rockingham to join State's early intervention program for at risk youth

PIC: Simone McGurk - Labor Member for Fremantle website

The State Government's T20 early intervention program is set to be expanded to include Rockingham.

Target 120 is a $20.4 million initiative targeting young people who are at risk of becoming repeat juvenile offenders. 

The program was developed in 2017 as an early intervention strategy for at-risk youth between the ages of 10 and 14, to help turn their lives around and improve family and community safety.

The program was first introduced in Bunbury and Armadale in 2018, and was subsequently expanded to Kununurra, Kalgoorlie, Mirrabooka and Albany. 

Initial statistics show around 62 per cent of participants have had no contact with police since joining the program. 

Rockingham along with Geraldton and Midland will be the latest sites to join T20, which now has 58 active participants across Western Australia.

In Rockingham alone, there has been a 96 per cent reduction in contacts with police for participants, while the number of offences has dropped 98 per cent. 

Community Services Minister Simone McGurk said Target 120 looks at young offenders as individuals, not as a group, and finds ways to reduce a young person's likelihood of reoffending.  

"The departments of Communities, Education, Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, Health and Justice and WA Police all work together to help potential reoffenders to engage in education, training, employment, social and recreational activities and other community-based supports," she said. 

"By focusing on a young person's needs, strengths and family circumstances, and building meaningful relationships with participants, this program is already producing results.

"This latest expansion is a positive investment in the future of these young people, as well as the broader Geraldton, Rockingham and Midland communities."

 

 

 

 

 

 

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