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Perry County Juvenile Court Receives Grant
< < Back to perry-county-juvenile-court-receives-grantPerry County Juvenile Court received a sizble grant from the Ohio Department of Youth services. Youth programs across the county will receive assistance through the grant.
"It's a very good amount for a small county like we are," Perry County Juvenile Court Judge Luann Cooperrider stated. "You first have to prove yourself because research shows that if programs such as the ones this grant will fund are successful with kids or troubled youth, you are less likely to have to incarcerate. Research shows locking people up doesn't always work."
The Grant money will help fund the ALPHA School, community service, restitution recovery and various other programs that will benefit the youth of Perry County, and throughout 2014 and 2015 will add up to approximately $329,000.
Judge Cooperrider says the youth programs remain a vital element in Perry County due to a large success rate in rehabilitating troubled youth. Cooperrider spoke of a student who benefitted from the youth programs, saying, "She came to us with just eight high school credits and was into some heavy drug use and she had a small child. We put her in a treatment program and had her at the ALPHA School and a parent program and today she's 19, she's raising her child and works full-time. We got her off drugs and got her an education. She's a real success story."
Cooperrider also spoke of the interdepartmental cooperation that contributes to the success of the programs. "It's not just the juvenile court, but also the education service center, Perry Behavioral Health, Help Me Grow, and our probation officers, it's a partnership."