The Embedded Youth Outreach Program aims to engage and support at-risk young people, and intervene before youth offending takes place.
About the program
The Embedded Youth Outreach Program (EYOP) is a Victoria Police led program, designed to support young people who come into contact with police.
This includes youth who are:
- in custody or have a history of offending
- disengaged from school, peers and family
- involved in high-risk behaviours
- victims of crime.
Engagement with the EYOP starts at first police contact with at-risk youth. The EYOP aims to engage with these at-risk young people and their families to assess their needs, before further offences or serious crimes take place.
The program provides young people with support and referrals to services tailored to their individual needs. It also refers young victims of crime to support services, and works with them to reduce the likelihood of future victimisation.
The EYOP is currently being delivered in Wyndham, Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong, Dandenong, Casey and Pakenham.
The State Government announced additional funding to expand the EYOP to two new locations from July 2023. The new sites will service the Brimbank and Melton areas, and provide the first regional service, based in Shepparton.
Key EYOP intervention
Referrals to services for young people may include:
- family intervention
- behavioural intervention
- education
- employment
- housing
- mental health
- drugs and alcohol
- victims of crime
- pro-social recreational activities, including sport.
Areas of operation
- Werribee police station (servicing Wyndham, Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong local government areas).
- Dandenong police station (servicing Greater Dandenong, Cardinia and Casey local government areas).
In July 2023, the program received additional funding for two new locations:
- Caroline Springs police station (servicing Melton and Brimbank)
- Shepparton police station (servicing Greater Shepparton).
Funding history
Initial funding for a one-year pilot
2018-2019
Extension of funding for pilot
2019-2020
Funding extended for additional locations
2020-2025
Werribee and Dandenong police stations have been chosen as the best locations to service the North West Metro and Southern Metro areas.
Funding for expansion to Brimbank, Melton and Shepparton.
July 2023-2027
Evaluation of the program
The Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science (CFBS) at Swinburne University is engaged to evaluate the EYOP initiative, monitor the program's effectiveness and provide evidence-based service improvements.
Key findings: Evaluation report (September 2020)
An evaluation of the EYOP pilot program was conducted over a two-year period. The findings showed the program to be an effective youth intervention strategy, and provided overall positive results for young people who engaged with the program.
The evaluation found that:
- the benefits of the EYOP outweigh the costs and provides value for money
- most young people who received a referral to a support service attended at least one appointment
- young people spoke positively about the relationships they established with their youth workers and referral services
- police members noticed the effectiveness of the youth workers’ approach to de-escalate and engage with young people
- youth workers developed a greater awareness of the impacts of criminal behaviour and pressures of policing.
Evaluation findings are very encouraging, showing that the EYOP has been able to successfully identify at-risk youth and intervene in a manner that has interrupted the offending pathway for many young people. This helps both meet the needs of young people and furthers the goal of increasing community safety.
Distinguished Professor James R. P. Ogloff AM,
Director of the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Studies and evaluation lead
Updated