Evaluation Report 2: Hard to Reach Youth (CART) - Te Puni Kokiri

the process of engagement used by the Notorious Mongrel Mob Chapter.The respect that patched members conjure amongst South Auckland crews. Patchedmembers can inadvertently act as aspirational role models for young people who have not hadrole models in their communities. This level of respect placed the Notorious Mongrel MobChapter in a position of having young people want to speak with them. This in turn assistedwith enrolling the various crews in hui and reconciliation meetings.Life history similarities. Chapter members and the various crews shared life experiences of: being stigmatised, experiencing public distrust and police scrutiny; similar socio-economic backgrounds; understanding what it is like growing up in South Auckland; and understanding the sense of camaraderie and whānau provided by crew affiliations.The process used by the Community Worker (Roy Dunn). As previously outlined, theyoung people had a high degree of distrust of social service agencies.They [social service agencies] don’t know what we we’ve been through. They’ve [NotoriousMongrel Mob Chapter] been there and done that. They understand us and we understandthem. Crew member, female, 20The Community Worker‟s approach involved him and the Notorious Mongrel Mob Chapterspending time with the young people and facilitating processes whereby the young peoplewere able to engage in a series of visioning exercises which culminated in their selfdeterminedaspirations.You have to sit down with them. You have to find a method of reaching people – based onpast experiences. Notorious Mongrel Mob Chapter MemberFurther, the Community Worker provided a series of sport-based activities. On one levelthese activities provided the young people with something to do, but on another level theyprovided opportunities for continued exposure to pro-social behaviours and opportunities toliaise with opposing crew factions in positive (violence free) environments.As such, the initiative filled a void created by the young people‟s distrust of social serviceagencies and authority figures in general.There was no one out there that could help us – who could work with us. We didn’t respectthem or they didn’t respect us. Notorious was the only ones who could get beside us. Crewmember, female, 20Crew representatives related that the Community Worker and the Chapter provided: awhi in an environment where they had been generally relegated to the responsibility ofPolice and the Courts; and an environment which empowered the young people to: Adopt pro-social means of conflict resolution, Develop positive interpersonal relationships, Gain a sense of achievement which in turn reinforced the desire to gain training,education and/or employment7 CART: Hard-to-Reach Youth Project – Evaluation Report, Te Puni Kōkiri July 2009