Young offenders head to US on project

The conference was organised by the Irish Penal Reform Trust, which published a report calling on the Department of Justice to devise a specific strategy for young adults to mirror the juvenile justice system.

Wed, 13 May, 2015 - 01:00

Cormac O’Keeffe

Five young adult offenders are to travel with gardaí to visit a successful youth justice programme in Boston in what has been described as a groundbreaking pilot project.

The initiative was raised at a conference yesterday highlighting the need to extend the current approach for dealing with juveniles to young offenders aged 18-24.

Speaking at the Turnaround Youth event, assistant commissioner John Twomey said such a move would be a “very welcome step”.

It said the result of the current system was that 18- to 24-year-olds were disproportionately represented in prison, accounting for a quarter of all committals even though they made up only 9% of the population.

According to official research, 68% of these young prisoners reoffend after release. The report called for the equivalent of the Garda Juvenile Diversion Programme (for under 18s) for the 18-24 age group and for greater resourcing of community and youth projects for young adult offenders.

Ashling Golden, youth worker at Swan Youth Service on Sheriff St in Dublin’s north inner city, told the conference that 18- to 21-year-olds “really need that extra bit of support”.

She said it was that period where they need serious help to turn their lives around.

“They are the ones left behind,” said Ms Golden. “They can’t get work, they are constantly picked up by the police and brought to court.”

She said Swan, which is a Garda Youth Diversion Project, had its “hands tied” by Government departments in trying to help young adults.

She said the Irish Youth Justice Service was funding a pilot project for 18- to 21- year-olds, which has been running since last June. She said this group had serious offences and was “very much still involved” in crime, up to drug dealing.

She said they look at the employment and addiction issues and work on their relationship with gardaí.

“It was awful when it started,” she told the Irish Examiner. “We spent the last weekend just gone with gardaí, two nights. We had three workshops and then had a cake-baking competition, where the lads were partnered with gardaí. They would not stand in the same room together a couple of months ago.”

Next month, five of this group are going with two staff and two community gardaí to the Roca project in Boston for eight nights.

“Gardaí from Store Street are coming. That’s absolutely new,” she said.

Jen Garcin of Roca, who travelled to speak at the conference, said they “never, ever, give up” on the 17- to 24-year-olds they work with.

Of the 500 young men dealt with last year, 80% stayed in the programme, she said. Of that 80%, 92% had no new arrests and 89% retained their employment.

Mr Twomey said it would be a very welcome step if the current system for juveniles was extended to the 18-24 age group, saying there was a lot of good work going on in individual pockets.