You and I will pay for Travis Glover s upkeep and support for the rest of his life. Georgia s child protective and social services budget has taken a fiscal beating during the past few years. It s been difficult to find additional money for mental health treatment, for better foster care, and for better pay for the dedicated but underpaid workers who deal directly with children and families. Additionally, Georgia s juvenile courts need to change as well. The juvenile court is the only place where the Travis Glovers can be dealt with in a meaningful and productive way.
Juvenile courts serve as the gatekeepers to the state s foster care system.
Yet 93 counties in Georgia have no full-time juvenile court judge to ensure that deprived and delinquent children receive the care, treatment and, when necessary, the punishment they deserve. Today, Georgia s counties that want them must pay for their own juvenile court judges. Inequities on a heartbreakingly human scale depending on whether or not children reside in a have or a have not county. It s time for Georgia to improve its juvenile court system. The state of Georgia can make a difference.