Boot camp mentors alone could cost $100,000 per teen

The cost of mentoring the serious young offenders picked for the government's military style academies could be $100,000 for each teenager, documents show.

The Oranga Tamariki-run pilot - involving 10 boys aged 15-18 - starts at the end of this month, but there has been little detail about what exactly the boot camps will look like, and how the teenagers will move back into the community.

RNZ has obtained documents given to organisations who are interested in providing the intensive mentor service that is a critical part of the 12-month programme, and continues through the three month residence and nine month community stages.

The pilot will cost approximately $5.1 million, and the documents show two options for how the mentor service would be funded.

The first option is a fixed, all-inclusive $100k per young person. This includes costs such as staffing, ordinary travel, overheads, on-costs such as KiwiSaver and ACC, and any other costs for the chosen provider to deliver the service.

Option two is a variable cost as proposed by the provider, made up of the hourly rate the mentor receives - with capped monthly hours according to the maximum requirements of the service - on-costs, a percentage margin for overheads and foreseeable travel.

The mentors are expected to be on board by 12 August and the ratio will be one to each teenager and whānau.

The documents say the mentor is someone who will be a "continuous relationship holder for each teenager and whānau", who will be resourced to "intensively support reintegration back into the community and achievement of goals and commitments." The purpose is to "remove ambiguity and unknowns" for the teens after the academy.

The mentor must meet certain specifications:

• Suitably qualified and experienced youth worker, professional mentor or coach (the qualifications for youth worker could be a New Zealand Certificate in Youth Work (Level 3 or 4), a New Zealand Diploma in Youth Work (Level 6), or a Bachelor of Youth Development, or a similar qualification in a Māori context)
• Skilled and accustomed to working with high-risk young people with offending behaviour
• Available at high-risk times (outside of standard business hours)
• Comfortable engaging whānau while teenager is in residence
• Awareness of family dynamics, complexity and trauma
• Experienced in offering therapeutic support, helping teenagers resolve their emotional, behavioural and psychological issues, and facilitating self-awareness, self-expression and personal growth
• Responsive to all core aspects of identity, which may include culture, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation and expression, any cognitive or physical disability, migrant experience and religious or spiritual beliefs
• From a provider experienced working with kids, offering existing programmes and supports
• May have existing contracts (such as Supported Bail)

During the pilot, the mentor must also be available for the following actions:

• Travel to residence location when required
• Instrumental to success of transition and reducing risk of reoffending
• If reoffending happens service doesn't stop, engagement continues, and mentor supports getting back on track
• Part of local MDT, shares information, the 'face' of the response to emerging needs/risks
• Attends Transition Hui (residential setting) and key part of the team to support implementation of Transition Plan
• Liaises with Academy Transition Lead during residential component, understands gains made and supports sustaining these in the community setting
• Encourage whānau engagement with supports, and accountability for transition plan

There will be reporting requirements for the mentor, including contact and non-contact hours, but also quarterly reports on activities by the mentor and progress towards the teen's goals. The mentor is expected to take note of any barriers the teenager faces, as well as outcomes achieved.

During the residential phase, a typical day for the teens might look like this:

• 6.30am Wake up and morning routine
• 7.30am Breakfast
• 8.15am Education/classroom/employment pathways [Period one and two]
• 9.45am Morning tea break
• 10.00am Physical activity/drills [Period three and four]
• 11.30am Lunch
• 12.30pm Whakapapa /cultural connection/whānau [Period five and six]
• 2.30pm Afternoon tea break
• 2.45pm Mentoring/wellbeing/counselling/life skills [Period seven and eight]
• 4.15pm Admin session
• 4.45pm Guest speaker/community transition [Night period]
• 5.30pm Dinner
• 6.15pm Daily wellness activities
• 6.45pm Evening routine
• 8.30pm Stand easy (down time)
• 9.30pm Lights out

The documents state the in-residence component focuses on engaging with the teenager and their whānau, and building trust.

During the first three months, the mentor must have weekly visits to the residence, weekly engagements with the whānau of each teenager, and attend weekly meetings with the local multi-disciplinary teams (MDT), and the academy team.

The documents show that at this stage the mentors will be part-time, working up to 20 hours a week. At least 10 hours must be contact time with the young offender and their whānau which could be face-to-face meetings or via technology.

The mentors are expected to travel to the residence at least once a fortnight.

The nine month transition period will be divided into a six month stage and three month stage. In the first 6 months, the mentor will have up to 40 hours a week contracted contact focused on the teen. There will also be regular meetings with the MDT - these could potentially be daily. The 3 month period will have 20 hours a week contracted.

During the first six months of the community component the expectation is to intensively support transition. This includes:

• Taking on role of a "go-to" person for whānau and the teenager
• Supporting the teenager to comply with court requirements
• Holding the teenager accountable to keep them engaged and working towards their goals. This may include supporting: essential life skill development, links to education, training, or employment, maintenance of fitness or hobbies, encouraging cultural, spiritual, and other pro-social activities, fostering emotional and holistic wellbeing, encouraging building of social skills and development of relationships with whānau and peer, revisiting "kitbag" learnings captured in plans
• Encouraging mutual teenager and whānau engagement and enabling whānau to support the transition back to the community
• Working with whānau to uphold commitments in the plan to support their teenager
• Providing support if the teenager re-offends (including if they are remanded into custody)
• Appropriately responding to, and notifying the social worker, about any reoffending or breaches of conditions

During the last three months of the community component the focus is on sustaining and maintaining, with the mentor expected to continue the activities mentioned above but to a less intense level. The focus is on "stable, wrap around support to ensure the teenager's enduring success in the community."

It will be a part-time job of up to 20 hours a week, with the young person and whānau, inclusive of travel.

The organisations who have applied to provide the intensive mentor service will be notified on 25 July if they are successful.