Media Appearances

Our work in juvenile justice is featured in this story in The Cairns Post.

Extract from the article:

Ms Hourigan said $190,000 a year could fund one full-time youth worker to work with young people entangled in the criminal justice system.

….

“Of young people in the juvenile justice system, 40 per cent will have at least one parent in the system.”

If they are First Nations, that statistic rises to 70 per cent, she said.

“These kids have experienced dysfunctional upbringings, intergenerational offending – these kids don’t know anything different.”

She says evidence and research shows the most likely indicator that a young person will become a violent criminal behaviour is locking them up in the first place.

“They will often enter a correctional facility as a minor offender and come out as an educated criminal,” Ms Hourigan said.

“When laws are broken there need to be consequences, but worldwide the evidence says locking people up for longer doesn’t work.

“SHINE for Kids has been operating for 41 years. We’ve been around a long time. We have a strong presence in Queensland working in women’s prisons with mums on parenting skills.

“They get to see alternatives.”

Read the full story.