The Government says military style camps for young offenders, dubbed boot camps, have brought down the severity of re-offending, despite four out of five going on to re-offend after graduating.
Seventy young offenders have graduated from nine Fresh Start military-style activity camps, which include military drills and counselling services, over the past three years.
In an evaluation for a ministerial briefing paper, the Ministry of Social Development looked at 42 young people who had been out of the programme for a year. It found 35 participants, or 83%, had re-offended.
But Associate Social Development Minister Chester Borrows says the programmes have reduced the severity and frequency of their re-offending.
He says the young people involved have serious convictions and significant problems to deal with when they go into the camps and any gains are significant.
The ministry recommended the camps be continued with some improvements.
Labour's social development spokesperson Sue Moroney says the programme is failing young offenders and cannot be touted as a success by the Government. She says the Government needs to be honest about the results.
