NCJ Number
83468
Date Published
1981
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This description of new initiatives in the treatment of delinquents in New South Wales (Australia) focuses on treatment programs, the regionalization of the Department of Youth and Community Services, and the Community Welfare Bill now before the State Parliament.
Abstract
Community youth centers provide an alternative to residential care for young offenders. The program of the centers aims to provide support and guidance to youth in the community. Social, recreational, community service, and camping activities are provided on the weekends to increase staff involvement with the youth. Weekend attendance at the Worimi Remand Center has been instituted as a possible condition of a probation order, and a pilot scheme of community service orders has been established in the Albury area. Work release and work experience programs have been introduced for juveniles in custody. The Department of Youth and Community Services is currently regionalizing with the aim of providing a more effective and efficient response to regional and local needs within an overall policy framework. Provisions of the Community Welfare Bill currently before the State Parliament include (1) a new procedure designed to produce more sensitive and enlightened decisions for children in need of care, (2) the institution of children's panels to determine whether court proceedings shall be initiated against juveniles alleged to have committed a criminal offense, (3) the new sentencing option of community services orders, and (4) the creation of the Children's Court of New South Wales to have jurisdiction over children charged with criminal offenses and to inquire into 'care' applications. Appended are the terms of reference of a task force to inquire into the general area of substitute care; statistics on the region of residence, sex, age, and outcome for juvenile offenders (1978-79); and a report on the first 400 male admissions to the community youth center at Stanmore.