Social Development
With regard to the Reintegration Programme the purpose of which is to promote interpersonal relationships and to reduce the chances of children and adults reoffending:
What trends and/or statistics are available that indicate the number of individuals (a) entering the programme, (b) successfully completing the programme and (c) not reoffending after completing the programme?
Children in conflict with the law are referred for DSD by courts for diversion programmes. The diversion programmes are offense realted and have the objective to transform the challenging behaviour and divert children away from crime. The referrals are dependent on court referrals which happened after the prelimibary hearings at courts. In some instances courts are withdrawing some of the cases without referrals to DSD while in other instances court do not divert but continue with criminal proceedings agianst the children due to the serious nature of the offenses.
The quarterly Performance Report (QPR) 2020 reflect the following:
- Children referred for diversion programmes per quarter average=50
- Children completed diversion programmes per quarter average=12
Reasons for non completion of diversion programmes are due to safety reasons, not being able to attend programmes, covid restrictions during locksdown and violence in the community. Re-offending is generaly low when programmes are succesfully completed and supported with family interventions and reintegration interventions by social workers.
