BEYOND THE HALFWAY HOUSE:TOGETHER, WE CREATE CHANCE
Disaya Meepien*

I. INTRODUCTION
Juvenile offenders are one of the most vulnerable populations as they are at a young age and in conflictwith the law. There were attempts to develop legislation, guidelines, procedures and services for juveniles
in the criminal justice system, as well as treatments and prevention methods for juvenile delinquents for thepurpose of reducing the number of juvenile delinquents continuously from time to time.1 According to theUnited Nations, youth were quite disproportionately represented in statistics on crime and violence, both asvictims and as perpetrators. Although in developed countries, such the USA, rates of juvenile delinquents,
like crime rates in general, have been dropping for several years in a row, the number of violent crimes
committed by youth had been increasing. It was also found in some countries, the proportion of violent
crimes committed by youths had been increasing and violent crimes were committed at younger ages thanin the past.
In Thailand, the number of juvenile offender cases decreased in recent years, from 30,361 cases in 2016,
26,089 cases in 2017, 22,609 cases in 2018 and 17,874 cases in 2020.2 However, the number of juvenile offenders
in total was a substantially small amount compared to the juvenile population in Thailand, and this number
did not directly reflect problem behaviour in youths. It could also be inferred that a majority of these crimes
were related to drugs or drug abuse as well as crimes in most countries. The proportion of drug abuse
offences is the largest among other offences when considering the proportion between each offence.
Table A: The number of juvenile offender cases in Thailand from 2016-2020
Offence
Property
Life and Body
sexuality
liberty and reputation
Drugs
Weapon and explosive
OthersTOTAL

Year 2016
5,961
4,158
1,412
883
12,4002,262
3,285
30,361

Year 2017
4,655
3,106
1,314
702
11,8691,527
2,916
26,089Year 2018
3,782
2,157
1,038
566
11,352
1,119
2,595
22,609Year 2019
2,948
2,175
922
517
10,634951
2,694
20,841

Year 2020
1,788
1,508
698
369
8,746
671
4,094
17,874

II. CURRENT TREATMENT AND REHABILITATIONThe Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection (DJOP), governed by the Ministry of Justice ofThailand, is the major agency responsible for juvenile delinquents who enter the juvenile justice system. In*
Acting Director of Research and Development Institute, Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection, Ministry ofJustice of Thailand.
1
United Nations (2016). United Nations fact sheet on youth. Retrieved July 10, 2016, from http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/
unyin/documents/wyr11/FactSheetonYouthandJuvenileJustice.pdf
2Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection (DJOP) (2021). Annual Report 2021: Case Statistics. Bangkok: Author.

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compliance with The Juvenile and Family Court and Procedures Act B.E. 2553 (2010),3 the DJOP provides
services for juvenile delinquents both before and after the court sentences. In relation to this, there are 77
juvenile observation and protection centres and 21 juvenile training centres across Thailand. Juvenile
Observation and Protection Centres will provide juvenile offenders who have not reached the verdict withRisk and Need Assessment, psychological assessment, counselling, drug treatments and physical treatment,
as well as provide report and individual treatment plans for the court, while Juvenile Training Centres will
provide juveniles who are sentenced to training centre with education, vocational training, rehabilitation,
behaviour modification, drug treatment as well as after release follow-up and related services. For thepurpose of improving its potential and effectiveness in reducing juvenile delinquency and recidivism rates,
the DJOP has developed, reformed, implemented many treatment and rehabilitation methods for juvenile
offenders, as well as raising the use of alternative measures (restorative justice) in certain cases. Additionally,the DJOP has been working in collaboration with other agencies such as Ministry of Education, Ministry ofSocial Development and Human Security, Office of the Narcotics Controls Board and the Office of Justice
Affairs to promote the rule of law, knowledge and prevention of drug abuse, violence, corruption and crimefor school students and risk groups of youth in community.
The concern for youths was not only the number of crimes committed by juveniles, but also the amountof recidivism that reflected the effectiveness of treatments and rehabilitations provided for those juvenileoffenders. As recorded by the Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection, the recidivism rate (oneyear after release) raised from 13.57 per cent in 2009 to 20.37 per cent in 2013 and continuously raised to22.49 per cent in 2021. Moreover, the recidivism rate at three years after release had reached 45.24 per centof those released in year 2015, 43.12 per cent for those released in year 2016, 44.49 per cent for those releasedin year 2017 and 41.02 per cent for those released in year 2018.4
Table B: Percentage of juvenile reoffending (First year after release) of juveniles released
from ordinary juvenile training centres from 2016-2020
Offence
Property
Life and Body
Sexuality
Liberty and reputation
Drugs
Weapon and explosive
OthersTOTAL

Year 2016
15.68
4.56
1.06
0.95
68.75
5.08
3.92
100.00Year 2017
12.3
4.29
1.24
0.56
72.23
4.4
4.97
100.00Year 2018
10.79
2.89
0.66
0.26
77.24
3.42
4.74
100.00Year 2019
8.06
2.97
0.14
0.28
80.2
3.39
4.95
100.00Year 2020
6.33
2.28
0.18
0.18
82.95
1.76
6.33
100.00

Table C: Percentage of juvenile reoffending (one-three years after release) of juveniles released
from ordinary juvenile training centres from 2015-20195
Year after release
One year
Two years
Three years

Year 2015
22.73
35.69
45.24

Year 2016
22.14
34.34
43.12

Year 2017
23.37
36.99
44.49

Year 2019
23.77
38.04
41.02

Year 2019
25.39
30.44
-When recidivism rates kept rising, it could be inferred that current treatments or services provided foroffenders may lack management to meet offenders’ risks and needs as well as an effectiveness in reducing
reoffending. Of the rising rate of recidivism, 80 per cent of reoffending juveniles are drug cases and another10 per cent are burglary and robbery. This suggests that income and well-being of released juvenile offenders
are of critical concern, and the DJOP’s challenge is the improvement of effectiveness in the pre-release andreintegration process.
3

Office of the Council of The State. (2010). The Act of Juvenile and Family Court and Procedure for Juvenile and Family
Cases B.E.2553. Bangkok: Author. http://web.krisdika.go.th/data/document/ext825/825511_0001.pdf
4Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection (DJOP) (2021). Annual Report 2021: Case Statistics. Bangkok: Author.
5Ibid.

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III. DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING THE NEW REINTEGRATION MODEL
To increase the effectiveness of the pre-release and reintegration process, the DJOP considered how toincrease well-being and job placement of juvenile offenders after release. There are a variety challenges injuvenile offender reintegration into the community. Researchers suggest imprisonment tends to increase
disconnection from the community.6 Juvenile offenders commonly lack social skills, self-determination, selfconfidence and empowerment. Also, the juvenile offender’s family and community appear to be lessunderstanding, less engaging and less supportive, which leads to juvenile adjustment difficulty in the transition
period. In addition, employment opportunity and placement did not correspond with their skills, talents orpreferences, which resulted in subsequent employment termination or resignation.7
Table D: Percentage of juvenile reoffending (one-three years after release) of juveniles released
from Baan Kanchanaphisek training centre from 2016-2020
Year after release
One year
Two years
Three years

Year 2016
6.9
20.69
24.14

Year 2017
10.53
15.79
15.79

Year 2018
6.25
18.75
25

Year 2019
10.26
10.26
15.38

Year 2020
4.55
9.09

Table E: Percentage of juvenile reoffending (one-three years after release) of juveniles
with restorative justice from 2018-2020
Year after release
One year
Two years
Three years

Year 2018
5.2
11.01
16.82

Year 2019
6.7
11.17

Year 2020
3.6

By analysing the in-depth statistics and practices in the juvenile justice system, it has been found that
Baan Kanchanaphisek training centre, which focuses more on empowering, life skills training, less secure
confinement and more self-control for juvenile offenders, as well as restorative justice, results in a preferable
rate of recidivism. At Baan Kanchanaphisek training centre, juvenile offenders are empowered through avariety of activities, and parents are required to participate in almost activity throughout the rehabilitation
period. A method of less secure confinement is implemented to enhance self-control and the social skills of
the juvenile offenders, as well as aggregating acceptance and engagement from the community. Similarly,
restorative justice measures that provide juvenile offenders with an opportunity to rehabilitate themselvesin community, together with the engagement of family. Both measures result in better reconnecting with thecommunity, self-empowerment and a lower recidivism rate.
The DJOP, therefore, developed the new model to increase the chance of new life of juvenile offenders bybringing back the method of halfway houses, which merges juvenile offenders from training centred into thecommunity while increasing the participation of private-sector organizations and the community, as well asusing scientific assessment to guarantee juvenile self-control. The new model of pre-release and reintegration
was designed to be implemented for pre-release juveniles in juvenile training centres.
The Model is divided into three periods: preparation, training and post-training. In the preparation period,
juveniles who will be released in 6 months will have their behaviour, attitude, and readiness to enter the 3months training programme assessed by both the DJOP (multi-disciplinary team) and the private sector
organization that conducts the training. During the preparation period, the juveniles will attend the orientation
which includes an empowerment session, family orientation and hair test for drug abuse assessment. Thefollowing training period will last three months. During the three months, juveniles will live on their own
6Smith, Charisa Kiyô, Nothing About Us Without Us! the Failure of the Modern Juvenile Justice System and a Call for
Community-Based Justice (March 23, 2013). Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing.
7Nally, John M., et al. "Post-release recidivism and employment among different types of released offenders: A 5-year followup study in the United States." International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences 9.1 (2014): 16.

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Figure A: new model of pre-release and reintegration

with training peers. They must travel to the training venues and the work office on their own. They willlearn to manage their daily lives by themselves. A post-training evaluation will be made by the private-sector
organization that conducts the training and the mentor. The drug test is conducted by hair analysis and isconducted once again during this period. If the juveniles perform very well, the private sector will consider
offering them a secure job and provide them with a certificate of training to fill in the juvenile’s profile. TheDJOP also reports its evaluation to the court to consider an early release for the juveniles.
The pilot group was a small number of five juvenile offenders in a juvenile training centre in Bangkok andits vicinity from August to October 2021 (12 weeks). With the training course in Barista and Bakery offeredby Bellinee’s Bake and Brew Company which is the top-tier company and professional in Bakery and Café
arena, the juveniles had the opportunity to learn to make beverages and baked goods, and the skills tocommunicate with customers, marketing and the management of a café. The result showed that juveniles in
the pilot project were significantly empowered and gained more confidence, they were responsible andmotivated to carry on a career after release, the participation of family has the best result in psychologicalsupport throughout the training and working period, and the most important thing is that they felt embraced
as a part of the community and believe they can do better than commit crimes.
The DJOP is currently conducting the second and third juvenile groups with some modification inassigning clinical psychologists and social workers as mentors for each juvenile. The mentor will monitor,evaluate and help juveniles to overcome obstacles by counselling and paying regular visits. Juveniles, mentors
and training supervisors have to evaluate emotions, stress, difficulty and performance weekly. Also, themodel has added an orientation and extra sessions (within the training period) which concentrate on social
skills development, cognitive skills development and self-empowerment for the juveniles and family. In
addition, activities during the 12-week training period will be accumulated in a credit scoring system which
can be redeemed for rewards at the end of the training.

IV. CONCLUSION
The development of the new model in pre-release and reintegration is beyond the traditional halfway
house system which used to offer a solitary house for released juveniles until they could find their own place.
The current model increased the chance to live a stable life after release, as well as the engagement of family
that builds understanding and acceptance. Additionally, innovation in drug hair analysis in the juvenile
monitoring system had the benefits of increasing juvenile self-control and awareness, and assuring juvenile
behaviours to the family and community. Currently, the model is considering the best practice in cooperation
among stakeholders, public agencies, private agencies, society and family, which complies with the DJOP’s
objective in reducing recidivism, and shall contribute to the guidelines, standards, regulations, structure andelements of private facilities established by the department in the near future.

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