Formed in 2006, JUSTGeorgia is a statewide juvenile justice coalition of more than 500 community organizations and individuals advocating for policies that promote better outcomes for children and safer communities for all. Coalition leaders include Voices for Georgia’s Children, Barton Child Law & Policy Center and Georgia Appleseed.

What is the Children’s Code Rewrite?

Officially called the Child Protection & Public Safety Act, it is a comprehensive revision of the Georgia Code’s juvenile court provisions, which govern the state’s response to children and their families in cases of abuse, neglect, violations of law by children, and other circumstances requiring court intervention. The act reorganizes the code for ease of understanding and application, modernizes substantive provisions to reflect advances in research and practice, and brings Georgia into full compliance with federal laws applicable to juvenile court proceedings.

Download Full Brochure: JUSTGeorgia & Children’s Code Rewrite

Read Full Press Release from Georgia Appleseed

Download Georgia Appleseed Report: Effective Student Discipline – Keeping Kids in Class

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Founded in 2005, Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that seeks to increase justice in Georgia through law and policy reform. More than one hundred legal and accounting volunteers participated in this project. Georgia Appleseed is an independent affiliate of the national Appleseed network.

Georgia Appleseed undertook the study in its role as a lead partner of JUSTGeorgia, a statewide coalition advocating change to Georgia’s juvenile code and the underlying social service systems to better serve Georgia’s children and promote safer communities.

The Child Protection and Public Safety Act (“the Act”) was introduced by Senator Bill Hamrick in February of the 2011 session of the Georgia General Assembly as Senate Bill 127 (“SB 127”). The Act was also introduced in the House in April 2011 by Representative Wendell Willard as House Bill 641 (“HB 641”). The Act was previously introduced as SB 292 during the 2009 Georgia General Assembly, and has been revised after extensive review by legislators and stakeholders. The Act is a comprehensive revision of the Georgia Code’s juvenile court provisions, which govern Georgia’s response to children and their families in cases of abuse, neglect, violations of law by children, and other circumstances requiring court intervention. The Act reorganizes the code for ease of understanding and application, modernizes substantive provisions to reflect advances in research and practice, and brings Georgia into full compliance with federal laws applicable to juvenile court proceedings.

Under the current Georgia Code, provisions relating to abuse and neglect (“deprivation” or “dependency”) are intermingled with those relating to children who have violated criminal law (“delinquency”) and those relating to children who, for other reasons, require court intervention. To resolve the confusion this creates, the Act reorganizes the juvenile courts section of the Georgia Code by dividing provisions into twelve clearly delineated articles. The following provides a brief summary of key elements of each of these articles, highlighting changes from current law.

Download Full Summary: Child Protection & Public Safety Act – SB 127 & HB 641