The Government is adamant boot camps for youth offenders are the answer despite the amount of criticism being thrown at them.

Opponents says boot camps are expensive and don't work but the Children's Minister Karen Chhour has announced they will begin operating by the middle of the year.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell told Morning Report he completely disagrees with those who say the young offender military academies won't work.

He says "dozens" of young people - the most serious offenders of violent retail crime - will be sent to the Oranga Tamariki-run programme.

"They're a danger to the community and they're a danger to themselves.

"If we don't invest in them, they'll end up in the adult system."

Mitchell says the type of young people he's talking about usually come from dysfunctional or broken homes and often have gang ties.

"We don't want to give up on these young people.

"It's a big intervention in their lives and I think it's one that's going to be extremely positive because the reality is whatever is happening to them back in their homes is not working."

Asked about push back from those working with young offenders, Mitchell says the academy is only targeting the most serious young offenders.

"The youth workers are often dealing with those youth offenders that might come out and have done a bit offending and you can get some quick support around them and you can actually make a positive intervention, we're not talking about those youth offenders."

'It's not going to be successful'

Aaron Hendry - a youth advocate and director of youth organisation Kick Back - says he's extremely concerned as boot camps are not the best way to deal with young offenders.

"We know it is not going to be largely successful and looking at research overseas and here as well they haven't been successful. Not long term."

Youth advocate Aaron Hendry Photo: RNZ/Jessie Chiang.

Hendry says the military component can cause more harm for young people who are already not in a good space.

"The young people we are talking about have already come through trauma - disability and illness, poverty and homelessness."

He says taking them out of their communities does not address the root causes about why they caused the harm originally.

"To start with we need to look at preventing what is going on. We need to respond and provide their basic needs. We also need to look at the group of young people who are causing harm right now and may need to be maybe be removed from the community.

He has called for much smaller localised home based support systems that are focused on therapeutic responses, rather than militant ones.

"A lot of these young people are victims first. This doesn't make our community safer. They will come out the other side and more harm will occur."

-RNZ.