Fifteen serious and repeat youth offenders will be the focus of a $700,000 program in Wyndham aimed at deterring them from committing more crime.
The state government announced the funding for the Strengthening Connections: Wyndham, Young People and Crime Prevention Program as part of a $7.6 million initiative to tackle youth crime.
The program will offer a needs assessment, clinical treatment plans, referrals, group work, family counselling or therapy, outreach and after-hours support to the 15 youths, who will be aged from 16 to 24 years old.
The program will target recidivist offenders and young people who commit “high victim impact first-time offenders” – for example, an aggravated burglary.
Wyndham’s police Inspector Marty Allison said Strengthening Connections would provide a “wraparound” service.
He said the program would work with some of the “worst of the [youth] offenders” known to police in Wyndham.
But Inspector Allison said the public should be reassured that while the program was about diverting youths away from crime, it was not a sign that authorities were “going soft on crime”.
“Any individual who commits any crime, no matter how violent or innocuous, they will be held accountable for their actions,” he said.
