Live-in detention centres to close

Press, 29 March 1980, Page 6

Live-in detention centres to close

The three residential periodic detention centres in Christchurch will be closed by the Justice Department in the next five years, according to the Minister of Justice (Mr McLay). The.. St. Albans Street centre .will be closed by April 1, 1981. as previously announced.' The centres at Bristol Street and Forfar Street will, be phased out in five years, along with other (residential periodic detention centres jn New Zealand."

The decision by the Justice Department had come after a Wellington ■ . study which showed “no satisfactory significant differences” between the results.of residential and ' nbn-residential centres, the Assistant Secretary for Justice: (probation), Mr G. G. AnnstrOng,-. said; . - • ; The reoffending and : the r?: tecohvictioh /;-rates / between . the two groups was about lhe same in .the Wellington

[Study. But youths who had been sentenced to residential I periodic detention tended to reoffend slightly more. “We cannot say that one form of sentence is more successful than the other, but the indications are that the nbn-tesidential periodic detention is the more successful.” The cost of . manning, the centres and of housing detainees during the week-end and one night during the week also influenced the decision. . . /• /'■:

Residential periodic centres f J not. been fully used in the last few years, Mr Armstrong said.' ■" With three residential centres providing 54 beds, the Probation Service had "Over-committed” itself in Christchurch. ? the district Probation Officer (Mr D. D. Leech) said.:... For .the last three years the centres had 'only been half to three-

quarters full. This was the reason for closing the St Albans Street centre.

Offenders aged from 15 to 19 would be sentenced to non-residenti&l periodic detention dr to community service, a new service now being legislated for. : Probation officers iff Christchurch . were “a bit sad to see residential periodic detention wind down completely,” Mr Leech said. Many youths had benefited greatly from the residential sentence.,

Apert frOm the community work programmes,, the residential centres also organised outdoor 'activities .in which manyyouths had never had the opportunity to take part. This would not be possible in the non-residential centres. Mr Leech said that he would have liked to see the department’s study, .compare centres in different and more cities.