An effort to reduce youth crime in Tauranga is getting a boost from the Ministry of Justice.

Tauranga City Council in collaboration with the Tauranga Moana Safe City is one of six groups from around New Zealand to receive a grant to fund new and innovative approaches to reduce offending by young people.

The grants come from a special $400,000 fund that supports the Youth Crime Action Plan (YCAP) – the Government's multi-agency approach to reducing offending by young people, and helping young offenders turn their lives around.

'The six recipients of these YCAP community grants were chosen from 65 applications, and reflect some of the most clever and creative approaches to addressing youth crime in their local area,” says Associate Justice Minister Chester Borrows.

The community provider Tauranga Moana Safe City will run a collaborative pilot aimed at female Maori violent offenders aged 14-17, using a six week group/peer intervention programme including whanau mentoring.

The programme aims to encourage offenders to build an awareness of the impact of their violence on their victims.

Participants learn to how to positivity influence their peers to help reduce incidents of violence.

The programme is expected to be ready to be implemented by the end of September 2014.

'Youth crime is an issue which impacts across society, and community engagement is a key to addressing the problem.

'When you see community groups like Tauranga Moana Safe City stepping up, and working with the Government and other agencies to tackle this problem, it's a very positive omen for the future.”

'Experience shows that small local projects, which are run by the people who know their community and the issues that young people face, can be extremely effective.

'The work we've already done to address youth crime has had a significant impact, with 2013 seeing the fewest number of young people facing charges in court since records began, 20 years before.

'But we aren't easing off the pedal one bit, because giving children and young people the best possible chance of a positive future is just too important.

'Initiatives like the one being led by Tauranga Moana Safe City will help to give more young people that chance, and I wish them all the best in that noble endeavour.”

The full Youth Crime Action Plan, as well as information on the six groups who received funding from the YCAP Innovation Fund, is available at www.justice.govt.nz/policy/crime-prevention/youth-justice