Life to the max - youth development programme outcome evaluation report

A report prepared by The Evaluation Unit, Office of the Commissioner, New Zealand Police, August 2004

Summary

This outcome evaluation of the Life to the Max youth development programme in Whanganui is based on the period between 1st November 2000 and 31st December 2003. The aim of the evaluation was to measure the extent to which the programme met its aim of developing and facilitating a long-term co-ordinated community approach to an early intervention programme for youth at-risk of actual or potential recidivist offending.

The evaluation is based on information from eighteen clients, eight of whom had formally exited, while ten remained current as of the 31st December 2003. All clients were male, over half identified as Maori (55 per cent), and a third as Pakeha / New Zealand European (33 per cent). Each primary client has met the entry criteria of the programme, with the exception of one client who was 15 years of age at entry to the programme, when the age criteria was between 9 -14 years.

A referral to the programme can come from anyone in the community, including a self-referral, a referral from a school, government agency or youth service. The majority of referrals to the programme have come from the Police Youth Aid section, with the most common reasons for referral being in the categories of social presentation and education.

All clients and parents were asked to complete needs assessments on entry to the programme to measure the various risk factors associated with youth offending. The eight exited clients and parents also completed an exit interview. The 'before' and 'after' needs assessments of these eight clients and their parents were compared to determine whether there was a significant difference between the assessments, thereby determining whether the programme effected change in the clients' needs. Overall, there was a significant reduction in the level of need experienced by clients in four of the five categories: health; education; emotional/ behavioural; and relationships. The level of need also reduced in the remaining category of identity, but fell marginally short of a statistically significant reduction.

The evaluation has been based around the measuring of four main objectives, the results of these objectives are outlined below.

DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY

Life to the Max has built strong relationships within the community. The programme has a comprehensive group of internal and external stakeholders and remains accountable to several funding agencies, including Work and Income, and the Life to the Max Board of Trustees throughout the year. They also hold regular meetings with stakeholders, professionals in the area of health and education, and Whanganui Police, which contributes to the strength of these relationships. The involvement of government agencies, community groups, Maori providers and local social services suggests the programme has been successful in building a co-ordinated community approach to intervene with youth at-risk of offending in Whanganui.

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS AND PROTOCOLS

The strong support from key stakeholders and the commitment and networking of staff has been integral to the strength of the relationships in the community. In accordance with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi the programme operates under the umbrella of whare tapu wha model (the four cornerstones to wellbeing) which works with the holistic needs of each client and their family.

THE FOUR CORNERSTONES TO WELLBEING

The four cornerstones to wellbeing is a holistic understanding of wellbeing that considers the needs and risk factors that exist for clients within the areas of health, family, education, and community/ recreation. The four cornerstones address both the needs of clients and family by offering plans within these areas. Through qualitative interviews with current and exited clients and their families, and with data recorded on the exit interviews with staff, it was found that families felt their perceived levels of risk had reduced through the intervention of services within the four cornerstones, and their sense of personal responsibility increased.

THE PREVENTION AND REDUCTION OF OFFENDING

Overall, of the eighteen clients, eight had a reduction in recorded offences, while eight increased their recorded offences, the two remaining clients did not have any recorded offences both prior to and during programme involvement. Overall, client recorded offences did increase on the programme compared with the same time spent prior to programme involvement, as did the seriousness of these offences. However, the average increase in recorded offences is largely due to the offending of one primary client who has contributed to over a third of all the offences while involved on the programme.

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS OF THE PROGRAMME

Clients and their families, stakeholders, and police were positive about the multi-systemic wraparound model of intervention for clients and their families on the programme. Each were impressed with the ability to be involved in the programme, included in the development of individualised plans, and with the ability to include the whole family.

SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS

In terms of the operation of the programme, it is suggested that more consideration be given to the hidden costs of the programme and the lack of sustainable funding as this creates instability in future programme operation and development. Other suggestions included the need for more definitive records of programme expenditure on clients, upgrading a secondary client to a primary client status if they are receiving a high level of intervention from the programme, and to be aware of whom clients spend time with when they are away on trips.

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

• Attention needs to be paid more specifically to offending within the four cornerstones to address the increase of offending by a number of clients.
• Seeking sustainable funding will provide programme security for staff and programme operations.
• Staff need to ensure clients, families and stakeholders share an understanding of the individualised plans and their obligations. As such, programme staff should monitor family plans more rigorously, particularly parent plans to ensure that clients are progressing/ achieving their agreed goals.
• It is recommended that staff training is conducted to ensure all contact data is correctly completed and included in the database.
• It is recommended that the database undergo a few minor changes to include travel time, as well as parents having undertaken the compulsory parenting or budgeting course.
• The programme should consider upgrading a sibling with a high level of need to a primary client when it becomes apparent that a considerable amount of staff time and programme money will be spent on the sibling.

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Table of contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF FIGURES AND TABLES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
    Development of relationships within the community
    Building partnerships, relationships and protocols
    The four cornerstones to wellbeing
    The prevention and reduction of offending
    Key success factors of the programme
    Suggested improvements
    Summary of recommendations
INTRODUCTION
METHODOLOGY
    Evaluation Model
    Outcome evaluation objectives
    Data Sources
    Interview with Programme providers
    Interview with police staff
    Life to the max database
    Offending records
    Stakeholder questionnaire
    Interview with current and exited clients and their parents
    Limitations of the Evaluation
OUTLINE OF PROGRAMME CLIENTS AND THEIR REFERRAL
    Introduction
    Referral and acceptance to programme
    Demographics
    General programme delivery
    Overview of services
    Period of client involvement
    Contact with clients, their families and agencies
    Number of contacts and contact hours
    Needs assessments
    Summary
DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY
    Introduction
    Community involvement
    Internal stakeholders
    External stakeholders
    Delivery of a co-ordinated community approach
    Stakeholders perceptions of a coordinated community approach
    Summary
BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS AND PROTOCOLS
    Introduction
    Maori values
    Adherence to the treaty of waitangi
    Summary
THE FOUR CORNERSTONES TO WELLBEING
    Introduction
    Individualised client plans
    Improvement in postive life outcomes
    Problems with the programme
    Summary
THE PREVENTION AND REDUCTION OF OFFENDING
    Introduction
    Offending prior to involvement
    Comparison of offences prior to and during involvement
    Summary
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE OVERVIEW
    Source
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
    The four key objectives
    Development of relationships in the community
    The four cornerstones to wellbeing
    The prevention and reduction of offending
    Discussion of Key Success Factors of the Programe
    Suggested improvements
RECOMMENDATIONS
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Interview schedules
Appendix B: Entry and exit needs assessments for clients and parents
Appendix C: Offence seriousness coding for Young Offenders
Appendix D: Stakeholder questionnaire
Appendix E: Life to the Max Referral form

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See also: Life to the Max web site