Implementing Juvenile Justice System Improvement in Georgia

• NCJ Number: 251356
• Date Published: October 2017
• Length: 4 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2014-ZB-BX-K011
• Agencies: OJJDP-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description; Legislation/Policy Description

Annotation

This report describes the provisions, implementation, and impact of a Georgia law enacted in 2013 with the goals of reducing the number of justice-involved youth placed in youth facilities, with the savings to be used for the implementation of evidence-based community corrections programs.

Abstract

As a result of this policy change, Georgia has been able to invest $37 million in its Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant Program since FY 2014. The state's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) manages the grant program and oversees contracted community-based providers for the delivery of evidence-based programs. Georgia's selection as one of three inaugural states to participate in the federal Comprehensive Juvenile Justice System Improvement Initiative has enabled the CJCC to receive funding and technical assistance to ensure the programs being delivered are consistent with the program manuals and the methods of delivery that had been evaluated as effective. The technical assistance provided by the Crime and Justice Institute (CJI) under the Comprehensive Juvenile Justice System Improvement Initiative has guided CJCC in the development of a model fidelity assessment process that will continue into the future.