NCJ Number
204826
Date Published
2003
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the development of the NRMA (insurance company that sponsors the program) Street Retreat program for youth in the Woolloomooloo suburb of Sydney, Australia.
Abstract
In Woolloomooloo, a small suburb, millionaires live in the same neighborhood as poor families. This factor, along with others, contributes to an environment that is conducive to youth crime, notably theft from vehicles and drug dealing. Initially, the NRMA Street Retreat program was an effort by police to improve relations with the local children. Police would take 20 local youth on an adventure camp for 4 days. At this stage the program had no clearly defined outcomes and lacked integration with other key community services for youth. The program evolved to develop linkages with the local school, after-school care, the Naval base, and the Police Citizens Youth Club. During the camping outing, the youth are divided into teams of five. The team leader (one of the youth) is responsible for the welfare, cleanliness, and group participation of the team members. Each child has an adult mentor, either a police officer or Navy personnel, who assists and encourages the child throughout the camp. Rapport is built between the youth and the adults, and a sense of trust and self-worth is created. Camp activities are designed to produce team work and the building of self-esteem. They include physical challenges with a survival theme, field studies, and team-building. Evening program activities include crime prevention workshops that instruct youth in the consequences of petty theft, bullying, and drug and alcohol abuse. Teams develop role plays to illustrate what is being taught in the workshop. To ensure long-term follow-up after the camps, the involved police agencies assess ongoing youth participation in other programs. The program has become more effective as it has developed community-based linkages with educational, recreational, and youth-services organizations in the community. Police spend a considerable amount of their duty time in positive interaction with local youth. It is common for youth to visit the local police station to converse with officers they met on the camping outing. Police officers participate in lunch-time school recreational programs. The program has yet to determine whether it has impacted the criminal behavior of participants, since most have not reached the transition age that might bring them into contact with the criminal justice system. There is little doubt, however, that the program has brought a new dynamic to the positive interaction of the police, parents, and community members with youth.