Athens program gives juvenile offenders opportunity for better life

ATHENS, Ga. - A new program in Athens is helping set trouble teenagers and young adults on a better path.

The program is called Juvenile Offender Advocate Incorporated, and it's opening its doors on Wednesday.

Julita Sanders, the founder and executive director of the program, wants to give young adults the opportunity to create a better life.

"It's very important to me because I believe that students can get lost, and it just becomes a cycle that will just be passed on from one generation to the next," Sanders says.

The organization is aimed toward young adults between the ages of 14 to 24 years old who are going through juvenile and state court. Each juvenile offender is partnered with a volunteer trained advocate.

"They follow them throughout their court process, make sure they get fair sentencing, make sure they are actually getting all of the services that are supposed to be given to them," Sanders says.

Sanders started this missing more than 15 years ago when she was a case management clerk in juvenile court.

She recognized some of the same faces coming to court who she had previously taught in alternative school.

"I realized that someone was dropping the ball. I felt like we were expecting them to be productive students but without giving them the tools to actually make that actually happen," she says. "So that's one of the reasons why I created the program."

The work does not stop at the court process.

"If they need food, for examples, or clothing items, anger management," she says.

And they also help build new opportunities.

'And if they come through my program they can attend Athens Technical College for free, in welding, forklift driving, maintenance technology and logistics, and their family members can also partake in any of those programs if they are low-income," Sanders says.

Because the big picture is to help stop the cycle of crime, reduce poverty, and create a brighter future.

"I think that we should not just help them at the moment, but we should also help them in the future," Sanders says. "So if we can get them solid in the beginning I think they can have a solid future."

The Juvenile Offender Advocate program is run completely on donations and hopes to serve around 50 people a year.

If you're interested in learning more or getting involved, visit the organization's website.

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