County Juvenile Court Judge Cliff Joliff has been working on the concept for a number of months. Judge Joliff says it's patterned after Hall County Drug Court.
"(The drug court) has been very successful and (I believe) forcing treatment of substance abusing folks versus voluntary is just a natural progression to see if they could apply in cases involving abused and neglected children," Judge Joliff said.
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> Judge Joliff, who comments on Sunday's Northeast Georgia This Week on WDUN NEWS TALK 550 (like AccessNorthGa.com, a division of Jacobs Media Corp.), says the new court will address the plight of abused and neglected children, who have substance abusing parents.
"The juvenile court, under this concept, will be reviewing the circumstances of (these families) every two weeks."
Joliff says his court sees about 500 such cases a year.
Kathy Norton is the coordinator of the program. Norton, Judge Joliff said, has extensive experience with the juvenile court through her past association with the CASA, the Court Appointed Special Advocates Program.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/10/103116