Juvenile Accountability; The Intake Process

In Savannah, Georgia, the juvenile justice system often fails the community and the police department when they do not hold juveniles accountable for their criminal actions. The juvenile intake process creates a problem for law enforcement when they will not accept a juvenile offender due to certain criteria. The juvenile offender is often aware of the process and knows that the Regional Youth Detention Center will not hold them. The inadequate intake process leaves officers to continuously deal with the same repeat offenders, along with having to release the juvenile offenders to their parents because they do not meet certain detention criteria. The issues surrounding the juvenile intake process in Savannah, Georgia is not caused by one particular factor, but by several aspects that are all related. By addressing the aspects involved, it will allow one to have a better understanding of the problem. The factors surrounding this problem keep juvenile offenders on the street instead of in jail. The Georgia Juvenile Justice Reform System wants to save the state millions of dollars by keeping fewer offenders incarcerated in state run facilities. This will allow juvenile offenders to be released back into the community. The change in the juvenile justice system through the 2013 reform costs affects the detainment of juvenile offender.