Youth Offending Rates Drop 25%: Positive Impact of Child and Youth Strategy Report

The latest Annual Report on the Child and Youth Strategy, released today, has clearly shown a transformation in youth offending.

Minister for Children Karen Chhour wants to take this opportunity to acknowledge the significant progress to what was once a national shame, youth crime, and has now become a great success of this government.

We’re now consistently seeing offending rates amongst children dropping, with the improvement since 2019/20 particularly significant and positive.

This report confirms what I have been seeing and hearing from communities. They feel safer, their young people no longer believe that there will not be consequences for harming others and are turning their lives around by making better choices.

The biggest improvement has come amongst what was once considered the hardest to help group, serious and persistent young offenders.

These are young people who had been victimising others in serious and dangerous ways.

The latest data I’ve received shows that the number of serious and persistent child and youth offenders is 25 percent lower than the June 2023 baseline figure.

The goal, considered ambitious and challenging at the time, was a 15 percent reduction by 2030. Now, we are possibly looking at achieving double that drop within the next 18 months.

The report also noted a reduction in substantiated findings of child abuse and neglect.

We’re still receiving a record high number of Reports of Concern, and I strongly encourage anyone who treatment of a child that worries them to contact Oranga Tamariki.

We’re turning around generational issues, that will take decades, but it is positive that people are speaking up, our children’s system is listening, and young people are safer and turning their lives around because of it.

Lastly, I would like to personally thank the staff at Oranga Tamariki for helping make this happen. It is a challenging and sometimes thankless job, but I have travelled the country meeting as many social workers as I can and I regularly come away inspired and deeply humbled.

It means a lot to me, as Minister for Children, and also on a personal level, to be able to be able to play a part in positively turning around so many young lives, says Minister Chhour.