Youth Detention Centers in Georgia Rife With Problems Says Juvenile Justice Commissioner

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Low pay, poor training and an unsafe work environment have led to unacceptable turnover among guards at Georgia's youth jails and prisons, Juvenile Justice Commissioner Gale Buckner says. ”By the time we get our juvenile correctional officers trained, they're leaving us,” she said Tuesday. The Department of Juvenile Justice reported a 54 percent turnover rate in 2011, up by nearly one-third over the previous year. Buckner, in a briefing for Augusta-area legislators, offered no specifics about a criminal probe into the recent fatal beating of a 19-year-old youth at the state’s Augusta Youth Development Campus. But the former GBI agent addressed a wide range of security issues, including the possible need for a “super-max” facility to house some of the YDC’s most violent youths.

Cuts to Juvenile Justice System in Georgia Won’t Compromise Safety, Says Commissioner

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Georgia's juvenile justice system is eliminating jobs just as many other state agencies are, but Commissioner Gale Buckner of the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) promised Wednesday that none of the cuts will compromise the safety of youthful offenders. Directed by Gov. Nathan Deal to cut spending on current programs by 2 percent, the DJJ submitted a proposed 2013 budget that trims clerical and administrative positions, four teachers and two dozen staffers in a program offering intensive community-based programs supervision. But, Buckner told state House and Senate budgetwriters Wednesday, "no position that is safety- or security-related will be cut." Buckner was responding to the concerns of state Rep. Quincy Murphy of Augusta, where a 19-year-old was fatally beaten two months ago in his cell at a youth development campus. A 17-year-old resident of the facility was charged with murder in the incident.

Funding Cuts to Juvenile Justice System in Georgia could be Restored to Levels Closer to those of 2009

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Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal's proposed 2013 budget for juvenile justice, after three years of deep cuts, could bring spending a bit nearer to 2009 levels, state officials say. Deal's spending priorities, though, reflect a harsh trend inside Georgia's youth prisons. They house a much different population -- older, more violent and much more difficult to manage -- than they did just a few years ago. "We certainly find them more volatile and more physically demanding," said Jeff Minor, Georgia’s deputy juvenile justice commissioner. The trend was underscored last year when disturbances at youth detention facilities in DeKalb and Dodge counties could only be quelled with the aid of state and local police.

Locking up Kids who Have Committed no Crime Could Cost Georgia Millions in Federal Funds

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Every week, Georgia locks up juveniles who've committed no crime. A new study contends Georgia risks losing millions of dollars in federal funding if it continues doing so at the current rate. They are runaways, truants, curfew violators, underage smokers and drinkers. They're called status offenders because their actions are only an issue due to their status as juveniles; if an adult did the same thing, it wouldn't be a crime. Now, a report commissioned by the Governor's Office for Children and Families warns that the practice could cost the state about $2 million a year in federal funding, particularly if Congress follows through with plans to tighten guidelines for placing status offenders in secure detention.