Our Mission
To provide our Taiohi with unconditional aroha whilst fostering meaningful connections and long-term support in a pro-social environment. START Taranaki are blessed to provide a service which holds space for young Tane and Wahine in Aotearoa who are at risk of offending or reoffending and walking alongside them on their journey towards leading positive, crime-free lives.
Our Programmes
S.T.A.R.T Taranaki operate three main programmes.
Core Programme: This is targeted toward young Tane whose offending has escalated to Supervision with Activity (SwA) orders or the equivalent.
START Early: Is a community-centric programme funded by the Toi Foundation targeted toward young people who have been identified as “at risk” of offending or reoffending but whose behaviour has generally not yet escalated to youth justice level.
Mana Wahine: Is a community-centric programme funded by the toi foundation targeted toward young wahine considered '“at risk” of offending or are experiencing issues in their lives that predispose them to adversity.
Core Programme (SwA)
This is a programme run in partnership with Oranga Tamariki. It is a supervision with activity youth Justice Order at the top level of Youth Court Sentencing , handed down to high level and recidivist youth offenders aged 15-18. We also consider Tane who may not be on an SwA order but have the equivalent level of offending.
S.t.a.r.t. Early / Mana wahine (Early intervention)
Discussions between Police Youth Aid Officers and START Taranaki identified a need for a programme that addresses youth offending at the earliest possible stage, before young people escalate in an offending cycle. Local Police Youth Aid indicated that throughout Taranaki there are young people who would benefit from targeted, effective intervention and long term support before escalation occurs.
S.T.A.R.T Taranaki’s programme places emphasis on building meaningful relationships between staff and participants. It is the attachment between young people and positive role models which allows S.T.A.R.T Taranaki’s young people to feel safe, cared for and able to make positive changes.
Our Impact
30+
Empathetic staff
Our youth workers are the heart of S.T.A.R.T Taranaki who consistently strive to affect positive change in the lives of the rangatahi in our care
18+
Years Serving communities
We have been serving Rangatahi of New Zealand for over 18 years and have become leaders in what we do
350+
Young men and their whanau impacted
We have seen 310 young men pass through our primary SwA programme and 50 through our Early Intervention Programme
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October 2017
We are desperate for youth programmes that don’t provide a key and a door. High risk youth need programmes like START Taranaki.
Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft
Get Involved
Effective youth justice services require the involvement of their local community, so there are various volunteering and employment opportunities within our organization, so if you feel you have a particular skill, talent or mindset that can help us improve the lives of the rangatahi of New Zealand, get in touch!
Make a Refferal
If you know somebody who could benefit from either of our programmes - get in touch!
Volunteer opportunities
Do you have a passion for youth or a particular skillset you think could benefit the young people in our care? We’d love to hear from you
Make a Donation
As a charitable trust, we rely on the generous donations of individuals and organizations, click the button below to make a donation to our cause
