Project Booyah is a finalist in the Queensland Multicultural Awards

Project Booyah is one of four finalists in the employment, education and training innovation – non-government/private enterprise category.

Close to 100 nominations were received for the awards across seven categories.

Multicultural Affairs Minister Grace Grace will announce the winners at a gala luncheon on August 20 as part of Queensland Multicultural Month.

The program, run by the Queensland Police Service, is offered in nine locations around Queensland.

It has had an amazing success rate with 86 per cent of young people who start the program completing it, most ending up with a job and criminal offending cut by 67 per cent.

In the Redlands 10 teenagers joined last term hoping to complete vocational education and get a job after dropping out of high school.

Acting Inspector and Project Booyah manager Ian Frame said he started the initiative in 2012 to help disengaged young people develop life skills to make better choices and start a career path to build their self-esteem.

“I had been a police officer for 23 years and I just got sick of locking up young people who had committed crimes,” he said.

“It dawned on me as I was locking up a kid who had done an armed robbery, whose father was in prison for serious offences, that we had to change this cycle.

“I thought about it and realised education and building up the teenager’s resilience and self-esteem with mentoring by passionate police officers was the key to encouraging better behaviour.”

Project Booyah is funded by the Queensland Early Intervention Police Program and Skilling Queenslanders for Work.