A Day in the life of the...Youth Aid Section

Dealing with some of New Zealand’s most hardened youth offenders is not something most people would willingly take on.

However, for members of the Police Youth Aid Section it is something, which they feel passionate about.

“To be successful in this job you need to have a passion for it because you are often dealing with kids from some really tough backgrounds,” Otara Youth Aid Officer Sarah Su said.

“Despite this, there are still a lot of rewarding aspects to the job, which make it all worthwhile.”

 Sense of purpose

Youth Aid is all about managing Police services for young people under 17 who offend, are at risk of offending, or may be in need of care and protection.

The section’s main priority is to stop youths from reoffending while still making them accountable for their actions.

Police Youth Aid Officers determine the best course of action for each offender by using a Risk Screening Model, which helps them develop targeted interventions that aim to address the reasons behind the crime.

“Basically we take a holistic view in dealing with crimes. Our aim is to keep young people out of the formal court system,” Wellington Central Police Youth Aid Services co-ordinator, Simon King, said.

To ensure this happens, interventions include working alongside community groups and organisations, which are dedicated to helping the offenders and their families.

Skills required

Youth Aid Officers need to be hard working, multi-skilled and have the ability to think outside the square, Ms Su said.

Another important skill was being able to apply the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989, well.

“Enforcing and applying the law, in our role as police, sets us apart from other agencies that work with youth,” Mr King said.

“We are also the first port of call for other police, seeking advice on youth crime, so for these reasons we need to know the law very well.

 “It can be hard at times because there are heaps of legal hoops you have to jump through,” he said.

Other key skills include a keen sense of humour, patience and being a confident public speaker.

Sense of satisfaction

One of the best parts of the job was when people decided to turn their lives around, Manurewa Youth Aid Officer, Craig Clark, told Police News.

“It’s really exciting, even when it may seem like a small step. It really makes the job worthwhile,” he said.

Ms Su said it was satisfying when people came up to a Youth Aid Officer in the street to let him/her know they had made a difference in that young person’s life.

“It’s great because at the time that you worked with them, you may not have known how much of a difference you had made.

“It’s times like these that make you feel really proud to be involved in this line of work,” she said.

Trying times

One of the biggest downsides to the job was the reality that Youth Aid Officers were not going to be able to help everybody.

“The sad fact is that because we deal with the top-level offenders, not too many of them get to live happily ever after.

That’s why keeping a realistic perspective on things is very important,” Ms Su said.

A big part of a Youth Aid Officer’s day is spent liaising with other Government agencies and community groups, who work with youth and their families, to set up partnerships and organise youth to attend these programmes.

Establishing rapport and maintaining it with these groups is often time-consuming but Mr King said it was something his section worked on continuously.

Inter-agency relationships In relationship to the other agencies, Mr King said: “We all learn through each other and it’s great to get their expertise on stuff we may not know too much about.”

Attending Youth Court and Family Group Conferences was another standard task.

A proactive approach to policing is paramount. “We regularly do swing shifts or late shifts to catch young people at their favourite haunts and to monitor their compliance with bail conditions,” Mr King said.

 

 

 

 

 

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