Ministry of Justice

International research shows that drug courts reduce crime but evidence is mixed about the cost/ benefits. Evidence shows that for drug courts to be most effective they should be well planned and implemented and have targeted eligibility criteria.

Employment assistance involves a combination of job search assistance, job placement, and vocational training: at least some of which occurs outside of prison. There is some evidence that employment assistance prevents crime.

There is no substantial international or New Zealand evidence on the effect of three strikes laws on crime. The existing evidence is mixed, and more robust research is needed to understand the true effects of these laws.

Offenders face a number of challenges when being released from prison, making it difficult for them to successfully reintegrate into society. There is very promising New Zealand evidence that reintegration services reduce reoffending. There is robust local evidence that the reintegration services ‘Out of Gate’ and ‘Release and Work’ provided by the Department of Corrections can reduce crime. The effect of other reintegration services is yet to be evaluated in New Zealand. International evidence …

There is some international research which shows that supervision for offenders released from prison reduces reoffending, however, New Zealand evidence is limited. Supervision is most effective when it follows discretionary release, and it is conducted by well-trained probation officers.

Correctional education and vocational training reduce reoffending and increases the likelihood of obtaining employment upon release. International evidence suggests that the more effective the educational training programmes are at obtaining and maintaining employment post-release, the greater the reduction in reoffending. International evidence also suggests that adult offenders, 26 years and older tend to benefit more from education and employment programmes and increase their chances of maint…

Ninety-one percent of prisoners have been diagnosed with either a substance abuse, or mental health problem over their lifetime. Mental Health Courts help in some cases to reduce offending. Mental health courts work best for people who have had little or no previous treatment for their mental health difficulties. There is some international evidence from the USA that mental health courts can reduce reoffending, however there is a lot of variation in mental health court design making it difficult…

International evidence suggests that informal processing of young offenders can reduce reoffending in some cases. Informal processing includes approaches such as issuing warnings, Alternative Action or Family Group Conferences. New Zealand makes extensive use of informal processing for young offenders.

Sex offender treatment for adults results in lower rates of recorded sexual reoffending. There is robust international evidence that sex offender treatment for adults can reduce sexual reoffending against children and adults. New Zealand studies have found that child sex offender treatment is effective for reducing crime.

Mentoring is one of the most commonly used interventions to help youth engaged in, or thought to be at risk for, delinquent behaviour and other negative outcomes. There is consistent international evidence that youth mentoring reduces crime particularly when professionally delivered.

Supervision is a community-based sentence that targets adult offenders convicted of less serious offences who have relatively straight-forward rehabilitation needs and a lower risk of reoffending. Offenders can be sentenced to supervision for 6 months to 1 year. There is conflicting evidence on the effectiveness of supervision sentences. They are most effective when the intensity of supervision is matched to the offender, treatment is mandatory, and administered by trained probation officers.

Enforcement of speed limit for traffic, such as patrolling and speed cameras, reduces speed levels, road crashes and injuries. There is robust international and local evidence that speed limit enforcement reduces driving speeds, road crashes, number of fatalities and severity of injuries. There is some international evidence that the effects of speed enforcement are greater when a new form of speed enforcement is introduced and for more serious crashes. There is some international evidence that …

Correctional alcohol and drug treatment is effective at reducing offending and also has positive broader social outcomes. The treatment is most effective when targeted at people at high risk of reoffending, and tends to be less effective for reducing offending among adolescents, but still useful reducing substance use. Demand is now largely being met limiting the need to further investment.