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Kalgoorlie’s problem families targeted in State Govt youth intervention policy

Tom ZaunmayrKalgoorlie Miner
Child Protection Minister Simone McGurk, Department of Communities Goldfields regional executive Amanda Fabry, Goldfields-Esperance Police Superintendent Brad Jackson, WA Premier Mark McGowan and Mining and Pastoral MLC Kyle McGinn.
Camera IconChild Protection Minister Simone McGurk, Department of Communities Goldfields regional executive Amanda Fabry, Goldfields-Esperance Police Superintendent Brad Jackson, WA Premier Mark McGowan and Mining and Pastoral MLC Kyle McGinn. Credit: Picture: Tom Zaunmayr, Tom Zaunmayr.

Problem families in Kalgoorlie-Boulder will be the target of State Government intervention seeking to steer at-risk youth away from a life of crime.

The $20.4 million Target 120 early intervention program, launched in Armadale last year, will now be expanded to Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Kununurra and Mirrabooka.

In Kalgoorlie-Boulder yesterday, WA Premier Mark McGowan said the program would provide mentoring, productive activities, and housing support to help families which have a tendency to cause issues in the community.

Goldfields-Esperance Police Supt Brad Jackson said Kalgoorlie-Boulder residents need look no further than Coolgardie for an example of early intervention’s benefits.

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“We invested quite heavily into diverting children away from the courts in Coolgardie and last year we finished with a 30 per cent reduction in crime compared to the previous year,” he said.

It is very clear any initiatives that keep young people away from the court system are positive

Supt Brad Jackson

“We are currently engaged with six young people at the moment and my understanding thus far is that it is all positive.”

Police will dedicate one sergeant to the Target 120 program to work with agencies daily.

Child Protection Minister Simone McGurk said proactive intervention was needed to steer at-risk youth away from detention.

“The idea of Target 120 is to work proactively to get in, do some early intervention with young people before they end up in youth detention and to try to understand what issues are going on for them and their families,” she said.

“It might just be really practical assistance like getting routine in the household, stopping the number of visitors on week nights or even just generally making sure the kids are getting to school every day. The idea is we get good outcomes with those families, we set them up, kids going to school, and when we think we have good outcomes we can redirect some of our resources to new families.”

Department of Communities Goldfields regional executive director Amber Fabry said successful intervention would come down to the skill of the workers.

“They sometimes cop a little bit of criticism from families originally, but the workers are very skilled at being patient and working with these families,” she said.

Ms Fabry said reduced crime and stemming the flow of children admitted to Banksia Hill Detention Centre would indicate success.

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