The Government’s 1994 crime prevention strategy identified seven goals, one of which specified the establishment of preventative programmes targeted at “youth at risk” of offending. As a result, the 1997 Crime Prevention Youth at Risk (CPYAR) package, dedicated to the three fiscal years beginning July 1997, invested $8.7 million in Youth at Risk strategies, with funding allocated to 14 programmes throughout New Zealand.
This outcome evaluation of the 14 Police Youth at Risk programmes is based on data from the period July 1997 to June 2000, and aims to assess the extent to which each programme met the Police objectives, and overall effectiveness of each programme