Ga Juvenile Overhaul
Channel: Grady Newsource
Date: 01/03/2012

Therapy instead of jail time. That's the crux of a bill approved by Georgia House members yesterday.  The passing of this bill coincides with a report released by the Public Policy Administration. Grady Newsource Reporter Savannah Williamson spoke to the authors about what their research shows. 
The Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center is the juvenile detention center for Northeast Georgia. Minors are sent here after committing offenses that mandate jail time. But a new report released by the Public Policy Administration is suggesting a new policy for teens who committ minor offenses. 
Public Policy Administrations in both Georgia and Texas collaborated on this report. The analysis suggests opening a CHINS, or Child in Need of Services, branch here in Georgia. 
Under this program, "status offenders" would be offered therapy instead of jail time. 
Jeanette Moll worked on this research from Texas, where the program has already been extremely successful.
Under the new legistlation, the Georgia Juvenile Justice system is getting a complete overhaul. Offenders will recieve an evaluation of their mental health prior to being sentenced, and their needs will be fully addressed before being taken into custody. 
And hopefully that will prevent more kids from ending up here, at the Gainesville Youth Detention Center. 
In Gainesville, I'm Savannah Williamson for GradyNewsource.