This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Interior Journal. By Nathan Goens In an effort to raise awareness about issues that face our communities, I wanted to take a moment to introduce Senate Bill 200, which goes into full effect July 1, 2015. Parts of the Bill have already gone into effect around the Commonwealth. The aim of the Bill is to create a more effective and economically efficient Juvenile Justice System; one that truly places the best interest of the child as a paramount consideration, [...]

The Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee met again in March on implementation of juvenile justice reform as a result of SB 200, which passed in 2014. Youth-serving agencies across Kentucky are taking a number of positive steps, and we can expect to see encouraging results in the coming months. The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), for example, continues to implement the Family Accountability, Intervention and Response (FAIR) teams. These teams function much like an enhanced [...]