Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, July 2001, 16: 175-190

This paper reports on a study, "Whanake Rangatahi - Programmes and Services to Address Māori Youth Offending", assessing Māori participation in programmes and services directed at youth offending and the outcomes. The paper highlights implications for government policy, programme specification and purchasing, research and evaluation. It concludes that government needs to work with Māori to build on successful models and develop a range of programmes and services that address the causes of offending for young people. Counselling services, particularly counselling for abuse and sexual abuse, and counselling based in Kaupapa Māori, were noted as lacking. Government also needs to improve its information collection to ascertain whether interventions are working for Māori. It was also noted that it may be inappropriate for non-Māori to be dealing with Māori youth, particularly where issues of abuse are concerned. Source: Author's abstract