E VOIC YOUR
0Y FOR 15 EARS
13 April 2015
A Star News Group Publication
Hijab invites hate
Footy’s back
Property liftout
PAGE 3
SPORT
INSIDE
Monday, 13 April 2015
M O VE IN TO TH E LIF ES TY LE PAGE 2
■ Service to close after slashing youth crime...
Cuts take a grip By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
1170560-ACM06-15
A DIVERSION program that has stopped nearly 90 per cent of its young male clients from violently re-offending is set to close after losing its $308,000 state funding. The Gain Respect and Increase Personal Power (GRIPP) program, which is run by City of Greater Dandenong Youth Services, has reformed hundreds of teenage males who commited assaults and other violent and aggressive offences since 2008. The staggeringly low 11-13 per cent recidivist rate among GRIPP clients mainly comprise petty thefts and minor offences. It was half the rate for young males under Department of Justice juvenile supervision orders. Greater Dandenong community wellbeing manager Martin Fidler said GRIPP’s youth workers and counsellors delved into each client’s triggers for violence, such as drug use, mental health, trauma and intergenerational family violence and offending. The program also aimed to reconcile clients with their families. “We believe it’s been a very successful program,” Mr Fidler said. “The majority of young men didn’t reoffend with violent behaviour.” A former client told the Journal last week that GRIPP turned his crime-riddled life around after he faced up to 25 years incarceration for a vicious assault. Now a hard-working full-time apprentice, he still keeps in touch with his GRIPP youth worker. He said he was “shattered” to learn of the closure. A close relative of another reformed client said the move was a “tragedy”, particularly in the face of challenging social ills such as brutal school bullying, high youth unemployment and “the ice crisis”. Springvale-Monash Community Legal Service executive director Kristen Wallwork said there was widespread “surprise”. Continued page 12.
Asian gateway rises The Journal’s Gary Sissons captured the stunning new Springvale Asian Gateway as it lit up Buckingham Avenue ahead of its official opening on Saturday. For more turn to page 9.
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