NCJ Number
251131
Date Published
2017
Length
1 page
Annotation
This report summarizes Georgia's legislative changes intended to achieve juvenile justice reform, technical assistance provided for their implementation, and outcomes from juvenile justice reform efforts to reinvest savings from the reduced confinement of juvenile offenders for community-based supervision and treatment.
Abstract
The legislative changes outlined are intended to achieve four objectives: 1) Reinvest savings from reduced juvenile confinement for local juvenile correctional programs; 2) Limit State custody for lower level offenses and remove mandatory disposition requirements for more serious offenses; 3) expand specified evidence-based treatment programs for juvenile offenders; and 4) establish juvenile correctional program oversight in specified juvenile justice State agencies. Technical assistance provided for the implementation of these legislative changes included evaluations of program implementation to ensure quality programs are funded and staff training in effective intervention principles for evidence-based community programs and residential facilities. Outcomes from the implementation of the legislative reforms were the investment of $37 million in juvenile justice grant programs since fiscal year 2014; the reduction of 269 beds in juvenile confinement facilities due to significant declines in juvenile out-of-home placements; grant programs serving 98 percent of Georgia's at-risk youth; the availability to juvenile judges of evidence-based community correctional programs in every judicial district; and just over 7,200 youth served in community programs as of December 2016.