Falling Through the Cracks: Girls in the Juvenile Justice System in Georgia

• NCJ Number: 224996
• Author(s): Sandra S. Stone Ph.D.
• Date Published: November 2001
• Length: 107 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Georgia Office of the Governor, Children and Youth Coordinating Council
• Sale Source: Georgia Dept of Juvenile Justice
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report provides a description of the girls within the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, the problems they face, the things they need, the barriers workers face in obtaining proper services and programs for girls, and recommendations for both the community and in juvenile justice facilities.

Abstract

Report highlights include: (1) the vast majority of offenses committed by female juveniles are nonviolent and non-serious; (2) girls are primarily engaging in status or other minor offenses; (3) most girls misbehavior stems from some type of relationship problem whether with family members or peers, and their misbehavior is often an attempt to get attention or some other need met; (3) girls lives tend to be unstable and chaotic, lacking structure and supervision; (4) the majority of girls have some type of diagnosable mental health problem; (5) almost all of the girls have problems in school, either academic, behavioral or both; and (6) girls committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice in fiscal year 1999 had moderate to serious residential support needs (100 percent), had documented histories of abuse or neglect (67 percent), had used/abused alcohol or drugs (75 percent), were rated as having moderate to serious educational needs (88 percent), and had documented histories of running away from home, most more than once (68 percent). Program and/or service recommendations, either community-based or institutional-based are presented. The recommendations focus on addressing the areas where girls have marked deficits. The programs and services should be offered in space that is physically and emotionally safe and allows girls to develop relationships of trust and interdependence with positive adult women (staff and mentors). During the 1990s, an increasing number of girls came to the attention of the juvenile justice system in Georgia, finding the system unprepared to adequately meet their needs. In order to explore gender-specific alternatives to better serve the female population, the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice needed to better understand more about the girls themselves, exploring the particular problems and needs of girls. Information was gathered from a variety of sources. Figures, references, and appendix