Juvenile justice advocates say more diversion programs could be key to keeping Georgia's young offenders out of the criminal justice system.

A report from The Sentencing Project outlines how programs to help kids avoid jail can reduce their chances of committing crimes.

Richard Mendel, senior research fellow for the group, said when a young person is arrested, it has a lifelong negative impact, often leading to higher dropout rates, a lower likelihood of attending college, and reduced income by age 30.

"More and more, the research is making clear that expanding and improving diversion -- and reducing or hopefully eliminating disparities in diversion -- really has to be a top priority for reform," Mendel contended. "If we ever want to create a youth justice system that's fair and effective, and keeps communities safe, and that guides young people to success."

Starting July, legislation goes into effect to standardize juvenile drug and mental health courts around the state but it does not include programs outside the criminal justice system.

The report showed national disparities in who gets to be part of critical diversion programs and access is especially challenging for youth of color. Mendel claimed a lack of leadership and weak policies are the primary problems.

He suggested using a data-driven approach to support diversion programs and urged state and local justice systems to expand them and provide the needed funding, as other nations have done.

"These other countries have seen the evidence, they've heard the evidence and they started diverting more and more of their young people away from court; 75%, 80%, 83% of them, now diverted from court, not put into the court system," Mendel reported. "We've had our head in the sand, we're not improving on this at all, so far."

Youth in diversion programs are 45% less likely to reoffend than those who go through the court process. Yet more than half of cases are sent to the courts. Data show in 2022, only one in five juvenile cases in Georgia was referred to a diversion program instead of court.

A new report examined differences in state juvenile justice system financing, looking at how local control can improve outcomes.

The report, "Transforming Juvenile Justice Through Strategic Financing," compared seven states and highlighted Ohio's RECLAIM initiative as influential. RECLAIM began in 1993 and encouraged courts to implement community-based alternatives to youth incarceration, with the aim of decreasing the likelihood of repeated arrest.

Gabriella Celeste, policy director for the Schubert Center for Child Studies at Case Western Reserve University, said RECLAIM and its recent updates have transformed the state's juvenile justice system.

"In the last 10 years or so, it's really upped its game, the state of Ohio, in ensuring that the kinds of interventions are based on what works with kids," Celeste explained. "That's where we see the new kind of iterations of RECLAIM, the Targeted RECLAIM, and especially Competitive RECLAIM."

Ohio has seen declines in youth incarceration over the past two decades, with the average daily youth population in correctional facilities falling from nearly 1,700 in 2005 to around 500 in recent years. The number of young people on parole declined 84% over the same period.

The average cost to house a juvenile in prison nationally is estimated to be $500 per day, or more than $200,000 a year, with some states above $500,000. The report found community-based programs are far cheaper with some costing as little as $75 a day.

Celeste pointed out alternative placements have been effective at reducing recidivism and improving other measures of youth well-being.

"With kids we want to be thinking about other wellness-related outcomes," Celeste outlined. "Are they engaged in school? Are they discontinuing use of substances? Are they progressing with a treatment program? But we tend to just look at one thing when it comes to kids in the justice system, and that's recidivism, which is important, but safety includes a number of other factors."

Alternative placements often include community services, which can more readily meet individualized needs among kids in the justice system. Courts can mandate individual and family therapy along with addiction programs. Celeste said mentorship programs have also gained popularity.

"There's increasingly a recognition that people who themselves have had experience or lived experience, whether in the system or as family members connected with loved ones in the system," Celeste observed. "They are themselves, kind of credible messengers, and they can play a really effective mentoring role with kids and young people."

The report looked at funding dynamics and programs in 11 localities among the seven states.


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A Missouri children's advocate is urging the justice system to focus on healing for youths, noting trauma and broken relationships often drive their actions.

Research shows Missouri has seen fluctuating juvenile delinquency rates, with urban areas such as St. Louis and Springfield facing rising youth crime. The St. Louis Police Department reported a 57% increase in juvenile shooting incidents so far this year compared with 2024.

Alex Lecure, board president for the group Advocating For Children in Crisis and Transition, has fostered numerous at-risk teens. He emphasized people who have been hurt, hurt people.

"The response to that can't be, 'Here's the rules, and if you don't follow those, then there's going to be consequences.' It needs to be done to the context of a relationship," Lecure explained. "There's a lack of connection and positive connection in their lives."

Lecure acknowledged youths must face consequences for their actions but stressed rules without relationships lead to rebellion.

Statistics show exposure to childhood violence is associated with a 40% increase in violent behavior during adolescence, as well as struggles with mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder later in life. Lecure highlighted a common thread seen in delinquent youths.

"The common thread of trauma that we see across many if not most delinquent youths is just absent parent, for whatever reason," Lecure noted. "Either, maybe Dad's not there and Mom's working two jobs and doesn't have the time of day, but not getting that solid foundation connection from your parents is a trauma on its own."

Lecure stressed the need for the juvenile justice system to address broken connections in youths' lives by restoring relationships or fostering new ones.


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A recent report is highlighting the need for a complete overhaul of the Illinois juvenile justice system. It called for a renewed rehabilitative focus while prioritizing the rights, needs and safety of children, which it argued is sorely lacking across the board.

The report by the Illinois Juvenile Justice Initiative found the majority of juvenile detention centers fail to meet even basic standards to keep children safe, which has opened counties up to lawsuits.

Katherine Buchanan, a consultant for the Illinois Juvenile Justice Initiative and the report's author, said the current state-subsidized, county-run model incentivizes the jailing of children and does not provide an ultimate authority on oversight, begging the question of why and how the state jails children.

"The timing is right to really look at when and why children are detained, and how we can really focus the use of detention on those most critical cases," Buchanan contended.

Buchanan pointed out research shows any length of detention has a poor outcome for children, especially those of color, and unnecessarily costs the state tens of millions of dollars each year.

The report found gaps across all centers in behavioral services and education, disciplinary actions and the use of solitary confinement. Overall, children of color are disproportionately impacted, coming into contact with the legal system at much higher rates than their white peers, even when they commit the same offenses.

Buchanan explained how childhood trauma increases the risk of delinquency in adolescents, and detention only serves to retraumatize an already at-risk population while compounding long-term consequences.

"Even short periods in detention can harm children in terms of their educational attainment, their ability to reengage in school, their mental health and also in terms of their long-term future earnings," Buchanan outlined.

The report called for legislation prioritizing community-based efforts and using detention as a last resort. A new bill was introduced last month to initiate efforts for juvenile justice reform across the state and largely mirrors the suggested solutions outlined in the report.