DALTON, Ga. – The Dalton youth detention center serves as a role model for detention centers across the state for its dedicated staff, advisory board, involved volunteers and community support, Georgia Juvenile Justice Commissioner Amy Howell said during a visit to the center.
“So much is being done the way we want it done throughout the state,” Howell said Wednesday.
The Elbert Shaw Regional Youth Detention Center, which serves Whitfield, Catoosa, Dade, Fannin, Gilmer, Murray and Pickens counties, can accommodate up to 30 juveniles. Staff members, volunteers, a few teens at the center and community leaders attended a luncheon to welcome Howell.
Howell, a former elementary school teacher and public defender for juveniles, was appointed to head the Department of Juvenile Justice by Gov. Nathan Deal in January. She is the first woman to head the department.
During a short speech after the luncheon, Howell said she hopes to shift her department’s focus to positive outcomes for juvenile offenders by providing them with counseling after they return to the community, making sure they stay in school and helping them get internships and jobs.
There are 26 facilities and 92 court service offices in the state. The department has had budget cuts in recent years, as have many state departments. But Howell said that by working with other community agencies, the department still can improve the services it provides.
Two teens briefly shared their stories of how Dalton’s center has helped them improve their grades and look forward to a brighter future once they are released.
One blond girl, speaking nervously, said she is working to graduate, get scholarships and become a forensic scientist.
“I broke the law, but I want to straighten up my life,” she said. “I know I can potentially be anything I want to be.”
For volunteer Elbert Shaw, those are the stories that have brought him back to the center week after week for 35 years. The 90-year-old, for whom the center was renamed four years ago, still volunteers several days a week.
“I just love the kids and the opportunity to see the Lord work wonders in their lives,” Shaw said. “The hope is that every student who comes through this door will leave a better person.”