Two years into the programme, the young woman had not reoffended and had rebuilt her relationship with her mother (who was now clean). She had gained NZQA qualifications and was planning a future as a social worker or a teacher.
Woodley told the woman’s story in a presentation a few years ago, when the trust was celebrating a six-year programme for reducing reoffending among 600 young people in South Auckland.
On Friday, Woodley gave another speech: at the closure of the charity. Genesis Youth Trust has been told by the Government that it is unable to keep funding it. After 25 years, it has wound down, laid off its staff and is trying to find alternative placements for around 60 young participants.
“I’m heartbroken,” Woodley told Stuff. “I’m biased, you know. But I saw lives changed, I saw it with my own eyes. They become law-abiding citizens and they come back in their 20s and 30s and they say ‘I’ve got kids, I’ve got a job’.”
Government ministers and independent assessments tell another story: they say the trust’s model was expensive and unsustainable. They also say the trust had not taken up opportunities for more Crown funding and could have kept operating at a smaller scale with existing money.
