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Introduction to Fresh Start

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 05/10/2010 - 17:17
While the current youth justice process works well for the majority of young offenders, there are a group of serious and persistent young offenders who need more intensive assistance and who need to be held to account whilst still provided with the support and interventions that will address the underlying causes of their offending behaviour.  

In February 2009, the Government introduced the Children, Young Persons and their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Bill to the House.  The Fresh Start reforms will enable Child, Youth and Family to work more intensively with these young people over a longer period of time.  With the help of this more sustained support, they have a better chance of getting their lives back on track.

 
The reforms include:
  • widening the Youth Court jurisdiction to include 12 and 13 year olds who commit serious offences
  • creating tougher, more effective sentences for persistent and serious offenders, including longer residential stays and increased supervision requirements
  • providing new powers for the Youth Court to order parenting, mentoring and drug and alcohol programmes.
The the new reforms came into effect on 1 October 2010
 
We all know that early intervention is the best approach when dealing with youth offending. As well as targeting serious and persistent offenders, Fresh Start also includes a number of initiatives aimed at helping children and young people at the lower end of offending, or at risk of getting into trouble. 
You can find more information about Fresh Start on the CYF website.
 
If you have any questions, please go to the Contact Us page on this website to post a query. The website adminstrators will pass your queries on to the relevant members of the CYF Youth Justice Team who will send you a response. Once a few responses have been received, an FAQ page will be added to this site that covers the most common themes .