"Using a state grant, Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Juvenile Court Judge Philip B. Spivey is using the circuit’s new Family Dependency Treatment Court to give parents a chance to kick their addiction and have children return home faster.
"Like other accountability courts that offer alternative ways of handling drug and mental health cases, Family Dependency Treatment Courts work to help correct parents’ behavior without them losing their children forever, Spivey said....
"In Family Treatment Dependency Courts, judges use a series of incentives and sanctions to provide parents with structure as they complete an average 18-month program, he said....
"The court also has applied for a $650,000 federal grant, which could expand the program to the entire eight-county circuit, which also includes Greene, Hancock, Jasper and Morgan counties....
"Spivey said he has confidence the state will continue to fund the program if there’s proof children are returning home sooner and aren’t being removed again."
http://www.macon.com/2013/10/16/2722647/new-court-program-lends-helping.html
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