Te Poutama Ārahi Rangatahi (referred to as Te Poutama from this point on) is a residential treatment centre for high-risk, sexually abusive male adolescents aged 12–16 years who are unsuited to treatment in the community. It is based in Christchurch, New Zealand, and has a capacity of 12 beds. It began operation in 1999 in response to the clear need for such a specialised treatment facility (see chapter 1). Barnardos delivers the therapeutic programme under contract to Child, Youth and Family (CYF).
CYF contracted the Crime and Justice Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington to undertake both a process and impact evaluation of Te Poutama over a period of five years, 2001–2006. It aimed to see whether the programme met its process and therapeutic aims, looking at short-, medium- and longer-term outcomes for those in Te Poutama. This report presents the results of this evaluation.