The reintegration impact of Waipuna adventure therapy
Independent researcher Sarah Wylie has completed a Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis of the Waipuna adventure therapy reintegration programme, Te Whare Hāpai Tāngata.
The result: for every $1 invested, the programme generates $15.44 in measurable social value. The total social value generated from one year of operation, calculated over participants’ lifetimes, is estimated at $14,002,701.97.
Who the programme serves
Te Whare Hāpai Tāngata is a strengths-based reintegration service for young people aged 18 to 25 with offending histories, delivered by Waipuna Youth Services since 2013.
Waipuna is, to the knowledge of its team, the only specialist youth reintegration service of its kind in Canterbury.
The programme works with young people transitioning from custodial or community sentences, many of whom have few safe places to go, limited family support, histories of trauma, and high re-offending risk without intervention. It combines adventure therapy with mentoring, employment support, housing advocacy, and wraparound whānau support.
What the numbers show
The SROI analysis, based on participant data averaged across four years (2021/22 to 2024/25), found strong outcomes across all measured domains.
More than 75 per cent had not reoffended in the two-year follow-up period. Of those who had reoffended, 28.6 per cent had reduced the level of their offending.
54 per cent were active in the community and employed. 29 per cent were in training. 71 per cent had increased their physical activity. 48 per cent had reduced their alcohol and drug use. 81 per cent showed positive change in desired outcomes.
“If it wasn’t for this programme I would be dead or in jail for a very long time.”
How the SROI was calculated
The SROI used the New Zealand Treasury’s CBAx model, applying financial proxies to material outcomes including reduced offending, reduced time on custodial and community sentences, employment and income retention, reduced alcohol and drug use, increased physical activity, and reduced family harm.
Conservative assumptions were applied throughout. Reoffending was calculated on the basis of just one reoffence per person. Prison time calculations were capped at two years. Wellbeing improvements were excluded from the calculation to avoid double-counting with physical activity costings.
The researcher notes that these conservative choices likely underestimate the true social return.
The value per person
The estimated lifetime social value generated for each person who completes the programme is $500,096.49. This figure accounts for projected outcomes over 15 years, the period over which the research identified that the programme’s impacts on offending behaviour are sustained.
“Before I done the programme I rarely had respect for other people let alone myself. Being surrounded by Waipuna staff has had a massive impact on the person I am today. They taught me that I am good enough and that I can achieve anything I put my mind to. I’m now working fulltime, I have my own house, I’m in a beautiful relationship with my partner, I see my son more than I did before.”
Parents and tamariki
The SROI analysis also documents a significant ripple effect.
Of active participants in 2024/25, 19 were parents with 22 tamariki in care at least part-time. Among all survey respondents who were parents, across all programme types, 88.9 per cent reported a big or huge lasting impact on how they relate to their tamariki and their hopes and dreams for them.
The research was conducted under ethics approval from the Aotearoa Research Ethics Committee (AREC25_10).
Summary Report
A summary of the independent impact research into Waipuna's adventure therapy programme, covering outcomes and findings from the 2023 to 2026 reporting period.
Social Impact Report 2025
Our full impact report measuring outcomes, reach and the difference our Adventure Therapy services made for people and whānau across Aotearoa.
Impact Report →
Social ROI Analysis 2025
Independent analysis of the social return on investment generated by the Waipuna reintegration programme – $15.44 for every dollar invested.