Offence-focused intervention programs

Youth Justice Community Offices provide support and services tailored to each young person’s age, gender, culture, and disability by:

• consulting with experts
• using visual representations of cultural diversity
• accessing translators and translated materials
• catering to different learning styles
• using culturally appropriate programs and interventions.

Learn about the programs and services in place to assist young people below.

Offence-focussed intervention programs work to intervene in the lives of young people who have offended and are involved in the criminal justice system.  They incorporate a range of techniques designed to change negative patterns of behaviour and reduce rates of re-offending.

Offence-focused intervention programs delivered by Community Offices include:

• CHART
• My Journey, My Life (MJML)
• My Journey, My Life (Yinnar)
• Dthina Yuwali (DY)
• X-Roads
• Act Now Togrether Strong (ANTS)
• Safe Space

The CHART program is an intervention program for young people. It helps the young person develop new skills, such as problem-solving and changing their thinking patterns which might lead them into trouble. They learn techniques which help them to pause and reflect before they act. The program also gives young people the chance to practice these skills.  

CHART supports case plan goals by assisting the young person to:

• understand beliefs that are supportive of offending behaviour
• examine their motives and re-evaluate the potential consequences of their actions
• develop the skills to find alternatives to offending.

CHART consists of modules that all young people in the community and in custody complete with their caseworker.

My Journey, My Life is a program specifically designed for young Aboriginal men to address violence within relationships. It is a culturally based intervention program implemented in small groups or individually. This program was developed in consultation with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal staff within Youth Justice. 

Central to this program is the routine use of core skills including:

• pro-social modelling
• role clarification
• effective reinforcement
• problem-solving
• relationship building
• cognitive behavioural techniques.

My Journey, My Life (Yinnar) is similar to MJML but is specifically for young women. This program was developed to meet the specific needs of Aboriginal young women. Young Aboriginal women from the Reiby Youth Justice Centre as well as elders and members of the community were involved in the design of the program.

Dthina Yuwali is an Aboriginal-specific Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) program based on the relationship between substance use and pathways to offending. It is based on cultural learning and utilises learning circles, cultural representations of concepts to facilitate learning, and the use of elders and respected community members throughout the program. 

Dthina Yuwali explores the change process, managing emotions related to change, and focuses on relapse prevention and maintenance. The program can be presented in its entirety or as individual stages.

X-Roads is designed for young people assessed as having substance abuse issues. It is a strengths-based intervention allowing facilitators to work collaboratively with a young person to develop personal insights, identify strengths and learn skills to address their substance misuse. X-Roads engages young people in role plays, activities and skill building exercises.

ANTS is a collaborative family work program that focuses on developing pro-social and communication skills within the family unit. The aim of the program is to work in partnership with the young person’s family by learning and practicing techniques to deal with problems. ANTS has achieved high completion rates and positive results in western NSW.

Safe Space is the Youth Justice NSW intervention program to help address adolescent domestic and family violence. The program has been designed to cater for the difficulties linked with adolescent domestic family violence. 

Safe Space draws on Narrative Practice, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, as well as family work, to provide a more rigorous and therapeutic response to managing challenging family situations. The program recognises that adolescents, parents and intimate partners may be both the victims and perpetrators of domestic family violence.

Safe Space is only delivered in the community and is not available to young people in a Youth Justice Centre.

A range of specialist services are available to provide intervention for young people with more complex needs including psychological services.

Where specialist assessment and therapeutic intervention is required, Youth Justice NSW can refer young people to Youth Justice NSW psychologists.

The SAY Program offers safe transport and outreach services for Aboriginal youth out late at night, currently operating in Kempsey, Taree, Newcastle, Dubbo, Bourke, and Wilcannia. Youth Justice NSW is now expanding this program to Moree, Orange, Coffs Harbour, Tamworth, and Dubbo to support Aboriginal youth at risk of criminal justice involvement.

This expansion aligns with the NSW Government’s Closing the Gap initiative, focusing on early intervention and positive outcomes for Aboriginal communities, informed by community consultations and crime data analysis.