VPRS 18079 Youth Officer Shift Report Books

This series consists of shift reports from residential sections located at Winlaton Youth Training Centre (VA 5093).Residential sections include Warrina and the Leawarra Hostel which were located inside the Winlaton compound as well as Winbirra, the Remand Centre located outside the Winlaton compound.Warrina was the initial assessment centre for the new trainees (the girls resided at the assessment centre for a period of 6-8 weeks before being placed in the other sections, Goonyah or Karingal. The Leawarra Hostel was used for children on protection orders and girls concluding their court sentences. Winbirra was the Remand Centre where children resided prior to the outcome of their court case which did not necessarily result in a custodial sentence at the Youth Training Centre.The Youth Officer Shift Report Books were compiled each day by one of the Youth Officers on duty and were divided into Day (morning) / Evening/ Night reports. The Shift Reports document both the changing schedule of program activities for the trainees. e.g., the weekly wireless might at the Leawara Hostel in 1957 as well as the changing attitudes towards the girls (predominantly wards of state) and the Centre's role concerning their education and personal development.The reports are subjective in their descriptions of the trainee's activities, moods and any irregular occurrences during the three shifts each day. The reports also reveal the intensive monitoring of the trainees. As the number of trainees residing at Winlaton increased, the Shift Reports developed from a few sentences in the late 1950's to full page reports by the end of the 1960's.This increased accountability for the trainees' welfare which is evident in the later, more detailed Shift Reports, was probably as much due to increasing public scrutiny of the centre and the remand system as much as changing policies within the Social Welfare Department.The Youth Officer Shift Report books were superseded by specific forms that the Youth Officers were legally required to complete as part of the strict monitoring of the trainees' activities, moods and any irregular occurrences during each shift.These shift report books are temporary records which have been retained in the absence of client and policy records for most of this period. They are the only collection of records that represent the Youth Training Centre's activities and programs from 1957 to 1980. The series also represents just a fragment of the volumes which would have been compiled for all residential sections at the centre over this period.