NCJ Number
97612
Date Published
1982
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This report from the Governor's Advisory Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) traces Georgia's progress with regard to juvenile courts, detention, treatment alternatives, prevention, personnel training, coordination and evaluation, and public awareness and makes specific recommendations for furthering that progress.
Abstract
Sections on each issue consider long range goals, current trends, major milestones in moving toward the goals, and recommendations for future action. Recommendations that the council believes to be of primary importance include establishing the Governor's JJDP Advisory Council by law and appropriating funds to give all juvenile courts access to unified diagnostic services on a postadjudication but predisposition basis. The council proposes that the legislature establish a standing committee on children and youth in each chamber. It also suggests legislation mandating that all juvenile courts participate in the Council of Juvenile Court Judges information system and that all law enforcement agencies have at least one juvenile specialist on their staffs. The governor and the legislature should continue to seek a statewide policy against the use of suspension and expulsion as routine disciplinary methods in schools. Other recommendations include a new emphasis on the treatment potential of the four large youth development centers and continued monitoring of detention practices by the Department of Youth Services and the Department of Community Affairs. The appendixes contain an overview of Georgia's juvenile population and data on juvenile arrests and dispositions, schools, drugs and alcohol abuse, and child abuse and neglect. Charts, a glossary, and a list of the council's members are supplied.