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Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

Second courthouse for juveniles to be built near Bibb jail

While Bibb County commissioners’ focus was on building a new courthouse, they were actually thinking of building two to address growing juvenile crime and delinquency problems.

The $83.6 million plan approved Thursday would build a separate Juvenile Court facility on land near Oglethorpe Street and the county jail. At about 20,000 square feet and $4 million, the new Juvenile Court building could begin changing how the county deals with troubled kids.

County Commission Chairman Sam Hart said Juvenile Court would be built to the southeast of the former Virgil Powers School, along Hawthorne Street between Second and Third streets. The courthouse would be close to the Department of Family and Children Services, potentially improving collaborations with Juvenile Court. But while the new Juvenile Court building would only hold court operations, the Virgil Powers School could open the door to tutoring, temporary juvenile housing and other interventions.

“All kinds of things could occur with that,” Hart said. “We’re hoping again that it could be one of those things that keeps us from having to expand the jail in the near future, if we can reduce that pipeline of young folks headed to jail.”

Juvenile Court Judge Thomas Matthews said delinquency and drug problems among children and parents are increasing. A collaborative site could allow court officials to work with people from school, mental health, juvenile justice and other departments.

“It’s been clear for a long time that the way to deal with this is not to just be totally reactive but to try to involve yourselves in these problems prior to the time they become major problems,” Matthews said. “There’s not a lot of money out there, not a lot of ability out there, so it’s important to focus our efforts and become efficient in how we work together.”

Seven years ago, consultants recommended such a collaborative approach that could even host programs such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Junior Achievement. But the current county courthouse never had the space, and the consultants recommended an $11 million project with about 74,000 square feet.

The latest effort would begin much more modestly, however.

Hart said Bibb County will ask for the Juvenile Court building, but not other juvenile-related projects, in a July sales tax vote. But the former Virgil Powers School recently was renovated and the county already owns it, he noted. The county paid $1 million for the facility, part of a multimillion-dollar purchase around Oglethorpe Street, records show.

Marjorie Almand, director of Bibb’s DFACS, said prevention efforts are the only way to cure the growing juvenile problems.

“The whole community’s waking up, and we’ve got to work together,” she said.