The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice is a federal agency headquartered in Avondale Estates, Georgia. The mission of the DJJ is to ensure that it serves and protects Georgia’s citizens by holding young delinquents responsible for their crimes through the conveyance of facilities and prohibitions in suitable environments. Moreover, the DJJ aims at ensuring that the youth become supported in becoming better. The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice manages twenty-two regional youth detention centers and six youth development campuses. According to the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (n.d a), more than 3,000 employees work diligently to make sure that the young lives within DJJ’s care are taken care of hence enabling them to become better members of society. The main function of the DJJ is to effect justice and shape young offenders’ lives. This is by ensuring that young offenders are held responsible for their delinquent activities. Moreover, the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice has in place various Youth Development campuses (YDCS) that offered training to the youth and ensure that once they get back into society, they can become better citizens. Moreover, the DJJ has set up a victim services center aimed at helping Georgians who have become affected by crime. The department provides victims with information related to the criminal justice process, provided support and advocacy services for rape and sexual abuse victims, and helps victims in filling the crime compensation applications (Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, n.d b). DJJ has set up a volunteer program. The aim of this program is to allow volunteers who would like to help in improving the lives of young offenders. Through the Volunteers Program, DJJ is able to recruit and screen prospective volunteers and place them in orientation and training programs. According to the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (n.dc), it later places successful applicants in its Community Services Offices, Youth Detention Centers, and Regional Youth Detention Centers. For one to volunteer, the department requires you must meet the following requirements; be 18 years and above, have a valid social security number, legal US citizen, and complete the intern/ volunteer application. Likewise, the DJJ has launched the Rescue 2 Restore Animal Program. The aim of this initiative is to help in harnessing restorative power to human-animal bonding. The program mostly targets dogs through dog training programs and therapy dog interactions. The aim of setting up the program is to help the youth in attaining life skills such as community service, educational success, positive and patient interactions, and responsibility. In the USA, more than 2 million youths are arrested, with another 110,000 imprisoned in juvenile correctional centers yearly (Macomber et al., 2010). The two major factors associated with youth incarceration and arrests include unhealthy and unproductive adulthood. It is an indication that the juvenile centers must have in place programs and staff who will ensure that once the youth get back to society, they are not unproductive and unhealthy. However, at the DJJ, its services have continued to grapple due to an increased shortage of staff. Juvenile centers have become less safe. The youth will most likely not be taken through the required rehabilitation programs, and once released into society, they resume back to their delinquent ways. The juvenile justice systems have been cited for having very high turnover rates due to poor pay and tough work conditions. Additionally, many juvenile centers have egregious conditions that undermine the youths’ federal rights (Underwood & Washington, 2016). The facility lacks proper mental health care programs to cater to the needs of mentally disturbed juveniles (Underwood &Washington, 2016). Likewise, juvenile centers have been accused of using extreme force on the youth, such as abusive disciplinary practices. All these three reasons indicate that the DJJ is not working to meet its goals, mission, and objectives.
References
Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice. (n.d a). Retrieved from https://djj.georgia.gov/
Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice. (n.d b). Victims Services. Retrieved from https://djj.georgia.gov/djj-divisions/office-professional-development-standards/victim-services
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Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice. (n.d c). Volunteer Services. Retrieved from https://djj.georgia.gov/djj-divisions/office-professional-development-standards/volunteer-services
Macomber, D., Skiba, T., Blackmon, J., Esposito, E., Hart, L., Mambrino, E., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2010). Education in juvenile detention facilities in the state of Connecticut: A glance at the system. Journal of Correctional Education (Glen Mills, Pa.) , 61 (3), 223.
Underwood, L. A., & Washington, A. (2016). Mental illness and juvenile offenders. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13 (2), 228.
