The government has launched a project aimed at reducing delinquent behaviour in youths.
The project, entitled ‘Second Chance – Empowering first-time offenders’, consists of several programmes and initiatives, including police visiting schools to give talks on issues such as peer pressure and social media misuse.
First-time offenders will be offered training and work opportunities, while a youth hub will be set up to provide a social space for young people to work on themselves and receive specialised therapy.
A buddy system will pair youths with an experienced elder, who will be tasked with offering guidance and aiding with young people's social and emotional development.
Speaking at the launch of the initiative in Valletta on Wednesday afternoon, the Minister for Social Policy and children, Michael Falzon, said that ‘second chance’ should not just be the name of the project, but also part of Malta’s social character.
“The easiest thing one can do in life is judge other people and sweep things under the carpet,” he said
Falzon stressed the importance of giving people the opportunity not to commit offences in the first place. The project, he said, was essential to break the vicious cycle of delinquency, which often started in a previous generation.
“The secret to a successful society is how inclusive it is,” he said.
Project leader Elaine Gauci Attard said that many youths were getting into brushes with the law.
“The main objective of the project is to work with youths and their families to prevent their first offence from becoming a second one,” she said.
Gauci Attard said the project had been developed together with several stakeholders, including schools and local councils, to identify problem areas.
“It’s also important to involve families and educators, so there will be training programmes for both.”
Remenda Grech, the director for alternative care at the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, said that during meetings with young people, it was found that existing programmes did not adequately address certain realities, such as computer misuse.
“We are also making arrangements to introduce more projects to the young offenders’ prison, so that when inmates are released, there will be less chance of them re-offending,” she said.
FSWS CEO Alfred Grixti said he was confident that those in charge of the country’s purse strings would continue to invest in the project in the long term.
“If we don’t intervene, these young people may become recidivists, going in and out of court and prison. As a result, the long-term cost to the county will be higher. I’m certain the project will deliver positive results,” he said.
The project will cost €3.5 million and will partly be funded by the EU’s social fund.