‘I have a structure’
“I have a structure. I’m keen to get up in the morning — I actually get up before the alarm. It’s had a very positive effect on my life.”
The programme, run jointly with the Ministry of Social Development, puts participants through 10 courses over the year, currently 80 at a time.
About 80 per cent of those who begin a course finish it and 80 per cent of those get jobs.
Of those taking part, three-quarters are male and slightly more than half are Maori.
Along with the NZDF instructors, there’s a clinical psychologist, police staff and a patron for each intake who acts as a mentor and role model.
On this course, it’s Eric Faesenkloet — who has run and owned Bond & Bond and now owns Golf Warehouse.
Of course he was enthusiastic about being involved but he turned evangelist after disclosure day — when the trainees sit as a group and talk about their backgrounds.
Trainees interviewed by the Herald told of
Hevidence about outcomes.
There’s some data — trainees were surveyed from 2013 to 2015, with almost all results showing strong growth in areas such as selfconfidence, stress management and thinking for themselves.
Attempts to survey trainees three months after the course failed, with few responding. NZDF and MSD had better data for the “Military-style Activity Camps” which ran from 2010 until 2015, offering space for up to 40 young offenders.
They’re closer to the 12-month “boot camp” the National Party offered up during the election campaign, targeting young offenders committing serious crime. The nine-week camps — canned because too few young people were being placed in state care — had detailed reporting and showed the level and seriousness of postattendance offending had halved.
Comparing the programmes is difficult. The Activity Camps were for hardened young offenders sent by court order. In contrast, the LSV programme is for job-seekers looking for fresh direction.
But both focus on a fresh start, and at their core is the NZDF discipline, ethos and spirit.
At the LSV, command lines are key, with trainees addressing instructors by rank and bowing to military-style commands.
And while there are army boots and military-style uniforms, there are no weapons.
Neither is the LSV a recruiting platform, says Youth Development programme leader, RNZAF Wing Watch video from the camp at nzherald.co.nz those among them struggling with troubled sleep and wrestling with drug withdrawal in the first few weeks.
There were those who, to Faesenkloet’s wonderment, turned up for the course without toiletries or even a bag. They simply had nothing to bring. Commander Tua Atkinson.
Atkinson, who acknowledges the lack of hard data on outcomes, says with passion: “You are affecting people’s lives for the better and you can’t escape that. I honestly can’t see anything bad that comes out of the six-week course.”
Trainees are drilled in physical fitness, taught first aid to certificate level and schooled on basic life and job-seeking skills. They also meet employers and learn how to carry out effective job interviews.
Trainees are not completely cut off from the outside world While phones are not allowed, they are welcome to write and receive as many letters as they wish.
There is mental health support, and options for those suffering drug and alcohol withdrawal.