The state of Georgia has for years thrown into jail juveniles who have committed no crime. But to continue doing so could now cost the state millions of dollars.

 

Those spending time in jail are what is known as “status offenders”—runaways, truants, curfew violators, underage smokers and drinkers whose actions would not be considered crimes if they were adults.

 

A study commissioned by the Georgia Governor’s Office for Children and Families has warned that the incarceration of such non-criminal youths could mean losing $2 million a year from the federal government.

 

Legislation has been introduced in the Georgia legislature that would overhaul how the state handles status offenders. The bill calls for creating a new agency, Children in Need of Services, modeled after what 16 other states have done with their non-criminal youths. The idea is to redirect these children and teens into community-based services instead of throwing them behind bars.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Locking up Kids who Have Committed no Crime Could Cost Georgia Millions in Federal Funds (by Jim Walls, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange)