A drive to target persistent and prolific young offenders has begun in Sunderland, Gateshead and South Tyneside.
The Intensive Supervision and Surveillance programme (ISSP), a £45m three-year initiative, will target 100 to 120 hardcore young offenders.
Launched by Home Secretary David Blunkett, ISSPs have already proved a success in America.
The Sunderland, South Tyneside and Gateshead scheme, which will be run by youth offending teams across the three authorities, is among the first 22 to go live across England and Wales.
Offenders involved with ISSP will be subject to intensive surveillance in the community for up to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through face-to-face contact, electronic tagging and voice verification.
The ISSP will include tailored packages of surveillance to address the risk of re-offending, and an emphasis on the underlying needs of the young offender and his or her family, in order to achieve long-term reductions in offending.
The package will focus on education and training, family problems, offending behaviour, and onreparation to victims and the community.
Forty-one ISSP schemes in England and Wales have been approved, targeting the most prolific young offenders.
Local Youth Offending Teams will be responsible for running the community-based sentence.
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