Juvenile Justice Information Exchange (https://jjie.org/tag/jjie/page/3/)
Just joining us? This is part five of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Scott Merritt, a certified addictions counselor and licensed therapist in metro Atlanta, estimates that about 40 percent of kids in Cobb County high schools use illegal drugs, including alcohol. Though federal officials say the rates nationwide are lower, Merritt isn’t pulling that 40 percent out of thin air.
Just joining us? This is part five of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Cobb County, Ga’s., Juvenile Court Judge Juanita Stedman’s office overflows every Wednesday at 4 p.m. For an hour, with therapists and probation officers filling every chair and – with several sitting on the floor – Stedman and her juvenile drug court team do a rundown of every kid currently in the program. One by one, Stedman calls out the name of each of 30 or so kids.
Just joining us? This is part four of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Kyle is now only a little more than four and a half months clean. His last relapse came during the Thanksgiving break of 2010.
Just joining us? This is part three of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Kyle Boyer, 15-year-old prescription drug addict, duped his parents once again, faking a stomach ache to stay home from school. But instead of staying in bed, he went out to do what had become his norm – breaking into houses and stealing whatever the medicine cabinets within had to offer.
Just joining us? This is part two of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Juvenile Court Judge Juanita Stedman, who presides over Cobb County, Georgia’s Juvenile Drug Court has gotten to know Kyle quite well the past three years. Yes, he was one of the most dangerously addicted kids she’s seen.
Just joining us? This is part one of a five part series. See the whole series. When Suzanne and John Boyer left their upper-middle class home for work on the morning of May 20, 2008, their 15-year-old son, Kyle, had a stomachache and was still in bed. It wasn’t too bad, he told them.
The clock is ticking for supporters of Georgia’s long-awaited juvenile code rewrite. Crossover day — the critical mid-point in the legislative session, when Senate bills move over to the House of Representatives and House bills transition to the Senate — is now a little less than a week away. So far Senate Bill 127, also known as the Child Protection and Public Safety Act, has not yet made it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) and if it does not do so before that critical deadline, it won’t be able to advance any further during this legislative session. That would be a major blow for supporters who have been involved in the rewrite process since 2004. The committee was scheduled to discuss the measure at a hearing Wednesday.
Greetings from JJIE's social media desk. If you're familiar with the site you've probably noticed some new features popping up the past few days. If you're new then you may be looking for the best way to get involved or make the most of your visits. At the bottom of each article you'll notice some updated 'sharing' features along with a 'report an error' button and a psuedo-pop-up welcoming our Interim Editorial Director John Fleming to the ranks. While the pop-up isn't here to stay, we think the other changes are a step in the right direction.
The American Civil Liberties Union calls the “School-To-Prison Pipeline” (STPP) one of the most important civil rights challenges facing our nation today (view the Advancement Project's STPP report). The term refers to what the organization cites as a national trend of criminalizing, rather than educating, the nation’s children. It is carried out, the ACLU says, through zero-tolerance discipline, school-based arrests, disciplinary alternative schools and secured detention to marginalize disadvantaged youth and deny them access to a quality education. In an effort to raise public awareness and map out prevention strategies, the ACLU of Georgia is teaming up with several other non-profit organizations to hold a series of five regional community symposiums. The overall objective, organizers say, is to bring together students, parents, community groups, elected representatives and faith-based organizations. All of the information compiled will be included in a statewide action plan that would highlight community-based solutions as well as proven local and national strategies for change. ACLU of Georgia Legal Director Chara Jackson spoke to JJIE’s Chandra Thomas about the focus of the forums being held next month across the state -- from Atlanta to Valdosta.