Normer Adams: Children in Need of Services

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SB 292 was introduced at the end of the 2009 legislative session as the Child Protection and Public Safety Act.  The intent of this important legislation is to comprehensively modernize and streamline the current stature concerning the juvenile code found in O.C.G.A. Title 15.  The current code was adopted in 1971 and has been revised several times since.  It is considered so out of date that the Georgia General Assembly passed a resolution in 2005 calling for its complete overhaul.  SB 292 did not pass in the 2010 session, but was introduced purely to move the legislation forward in the next session. The code needs to be modernized for several reasons.  It is so confusing and disorganized that even the most experienced judges and lawyers have trouble using it.  It must be updated to comply with federal law dealing with child welfare and the federal funds attached to those laws.  The revision of the code reflects the best practices of other states and evidence based practices of child welfare.  We know more about child development than we did when the code was developed in 1971.  This understanding needs to be reflected in Georgia's laws. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on this piece of legislation on Monday, August 9th at 2 pm at the Capitol in room 450.  They will be hearing testimony on Article 6 in the code to create a new approach for intervening with children who are currently considered "unruly."  Children in Need of Services (CHINS) include children who have committed an act that would not be against the law but for the fact that they are children, such as skipping school, running away from home, drinking alcohol, and violating curfew.  This would also include children who are "habitually disobedient" to their parents and place themselves or others in unsafe circumstances through their behavior.  The courts now intervene with these children as if they were delinquency cases rather than in the more holistic, service-oriented approach of the rewrite. This approach has shown to be more effective, more cost efficient and more protective of public safety. __________________________

Normer Adams is Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children and a writer, speaker and consultant on family and social issues such as advocacy, lobbying, and child welfare policy. Learn more at www.gahsc.org/

FBI Targets Child Sex Trafficking

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At Atlanta man is under arrest for sex trafficking involving children. Demetrius Darnell Homer is accused of recruiting and maintaining three young girls for prostitution.  U. S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “This defendant allegedly recruited very young girls and turned them into prostitutes, robbing them of their youth, their dignity, and their freedom. Vigorously prosecuting those who exploit children and young women is a top priority for our office.”

Atlanta is considered a hot spot for child prostitution.  An estimated 7,200 men are paying for sex with teenage girls every month in Georgia, according to a study called “Men Who Buy Sex with Adolescent Girls.” The report, commissioned by the campaign called A Future Not a Past, paints an alarming picture of the sex trade in North Georgia. 12,400 men pay for sex with young females each month; 7,200 of them end up having sex with underage girls. While many men were not looking for sex with teenage girls, close to half were willing to go through with the transaction even after they found out they would be hooking up with someone under 18.

Delinquents and Career Crime Not Linked, Study Finds

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Children who get in trouble with the law early in life do not necessarily become lifelong criminals, according to the Marburg Child Delinquency Study.  Researchers in child and adolescent psychiatry in Marburg, Germany followed 263 people who were arrested for crimes before they turned 14.  They found “Offenses committed in childhood, whether known to the police or not, had no effect on the later (chronic) course of delinquency.”

Some of the indicators for a life of crime were the same as those for mental illness. Plus they cited three risk factors specific to criminal behavior in later life:   Boys, very aggressive behavior early on, and explosure to the negative influence of delinquent peers. Read the full Marburg Study here.

Most Kids Arrested Are on Drugs

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More than half of teens arrested in San Diego County, CA last year tested positive for at least one drug, and 94 percent admitted using drugs or alcohol at some point, according to research from the San Diego Association of Governments.  Marijuana was the most common drug, with 51 percent testing positive at the time of arrest.   47 percent of these kids said their parents abused alcohol or drugs, too. Half said a parent had been previously arrested and jailed.  Read more in the San Diego Union-Tribune

Atlanta Teens Fight Crime

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Crime victims and former gamg members came together at Atlanta City Hall this week to celebrate the group called  Zone Safety Atlanta.  It’s a peer mentoring program that introduces teens to good citizenship and practical skills.  One of the founders calls it “Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts meet urban America. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on this program, which began during a crime wave in 2002.  Zone Safety Atlanta is credited with reducing recidivism by 60% and violence in schools by 80% among young people and gang members who participate.

Georgia Judge Heads National Council

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Judge Michael Key of Troup County, Georgia was sworn in Tuesday as the new president of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges at their annual conference in San Diego. Key has been a juvenile court judge since 1989, and is past president of the Georgia Council of Juvenile Court Judges.  He has been honored twice with the President’s Award, and was named Child Advocate of the Year by the Young Lawyer Division of the Georgia State Bar Association.  Judge Key sits on the bench part time, and is a partner in the law firm of Key and Gordy, in LaGrange. The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges has 2,000 members and is based at the University of Nevada in Reno. Read the full news release here.

Kid Lifers Test Supreme Court Ruling

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Appeals are starting to roll in on behalf of convicts sentenced as teenagers to life without parole. Some will try to test the intent of the Supreme Court decision from May. There are more than 2,000 juvenile lifers across the nation, and 90 percent were convicted of homicide, so on the surface the high court ruling would not apply to them.  But advocates are focused on the majority opinion. which argues adolescent brains are not fully developed and, therefore, they have limited responsibility for their criminal actions. So far, five juvenile lifers convicted in homicide cases have filed appeals in Pennsylania.

Playing Football Without a Helmet

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Working with kids in juvenile court is fast moving, intimate and direct...a lot like playing football without a helmet. That insight comes from  retired juvenile court prosecutor Elisabeth MacNamara.  This former ADA in DeKalb County, Georgia says the courts need more programs to help families and children in crisis. MacNamara spent four years supervising  prosecutors  in juvenile court,  and 20 years in Superior Court. She retired last May to become the President of the League of Women Voters of the United States.  She shares some candid and surprising views about the juvenile justice system.

How Money Crunch Can Spur Reform

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A new report makes the case for juvenile justice reform despite financial constraints.  The study, called The Real Costs and Benefits of Change, comes from The National Juvenile Justice Network, and outlines pro-active measures that advocates can take to cut spending without cutting effective programs. Their core mission is to put fewer young people in jail or detention, without sacrificing safety.  It recommends using the budget crisis facing cities and states to promote shutting down facilities by showing how much money can be saved; and using that money to fund less expensive community-based alternative programs.

The authors lay out specific tactics and cite numerous examples in Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, California, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, New Mexico.

Hall Co.Targets At-Risk Kids

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A multi-agency program focused on reading, self esteem and leadership skills for high school students is in the works in Hall County.  Juvenile Court, the Local Interagency Planning Team and the Family Connection Network are working with community groups to create the Hall System of Care. The free program will target juvenile offenders, truants, teen parents, foster children and other kids considered at-risk.  Funding is coming from a $94,317 grant from the Governor’s Office for Children and Families. Read more here.