Rockdale County has announced that Rockdale Juvenile Court is the
recipient of six federal, state and local grants designed to enhance
program and service offerings for youth and their families.
The U.
S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention, has awarded to Rockdale Juvenile Court a $400,000 grant to
enhance services to youth in the Drug Court program and their families.
Grant
funds will be utilized over a two-year period to provide group
substance abuse treatment, individual and family counseling, parenting
classes, drug testing, surveillance, pro-social activities, educational
assistance and transportation. Since its inception in 2012, the 12-month
Drug Court program has served 36 youths ages 14-17 who the Drug Court
team recommends for substance abuse treatment.
Additionally, the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating
Council has awarded to Juvenile Court three grants, including $69,000 to
assist with the Drug Court program, and $95,905 to continue for a
second year the Strengthening Families program, which provides family
skills training, increases residence and reduces risk factors for
low-risk youth.Through the Strengthen Families program, Juvenile Court
will serve 30 youths and their families in 2016.
Juvenile Court
also received from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council $267,246 in
grant funds to serve medium-to-high risk youth and their families with
Functional Family Therapy. In its third year in Rockdale, the program
offers to youths and families in-home therapy for youths who are at risk
of being committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice. The
Functional Family Therapy program reduced youth commitments to Juvenile
Justice by 84 percent in 2014 and 54 percent in 2015. This year,
Juvenile Court will serve 48 youths and their families as part of the
Functional Family therapy program.
Locally, the Hospital Authority
of Rockdale County awarded to Juvenile Court a $15,000 grant to assist
with program needs this year.
Lastly, Juvenile Court received a grant of just more than $80,000
from the U. S. Department of Human Services to continue the Rockdale
Encouraging Student Health, Abstinence and Parent Engagement (RESHAPE)
program. RESHAPE focuses on abstinence, decision making and life skills.
The program is in its fifth year in Rockdale and serves 80 children
annually.
In addition to its grant-funded programs, Juvenile Court provides numerous other programs to court-involved youths.
For more information about Juvenile Court and its programs, please contact Teresa Gordy at 770-278-7763 or teresa.gordy@rockdalecountyga.gov.