Dear Fellow Citizens:

I am pleased to present to you Clayton County Juvenile Court's Report for 2011. We strongly believe that the citizens of Clayton County are entitled to be informed about the functioning of their Juvenile Court and trust you will find this report useful and informative.

The year 2011 was a significant one for our court. We continue to implement changes recommended by management consultants funded by Governor's Office for Children and Families and continue to participate in the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative. In addition, significant work was accomplished with regard to the development and construction of the new Clayton County Youth Development and Justice Center.

As you will note from the charts contained in this report, the workload of the Juvenile Court continues to shift with our focus on community-based alternatives to formal processing, and we are hopeful that, with the support of the Board of Commissioners as well as with internal operational changes spurred by innovative thinking, we will continue to be able to provide and expand evidence-based services to our community. We are certainly appreciative of the cooperation we receive from many other agencies, including the Clayton County Sheriff's Office, Clayton County District Attorney's Office, Clayton County Public Defender's Office, Clayton County Police Department, Board of Education and Board of Commissioners as well as the municipal law enforcement agencies within the county. We also continue to maintain a strong working relationship with the Clayton County Department of Family and Children Services and with the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice.