GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County judge is asking the county for money to get involved sooner with kids who keep missing school, saying those cases can turn into criminal ones.
Chief Juvenile Court Judge Nhan-Ai Du made the pitch to a citizen budget review committee as part of the county’s 2027 budget process.
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Her court wants about $190,000 for a full-time coordinator and services for those kids. It has no formal program for them now, and staff handle the cases on top of their main jobs.
Du said problems like truancy and running away don’t always stay small.
“If they are not dealt with on the front end, are turning into our delinquency cases, are turning into our drug cases, our foster care cases,” Du said.
A truancy court started about a year ago and meets every Friday.
Du said many of those families have other needs, sometimes drug abuse.
Judge Wesley Person said the county can look like it has it all from the outside.
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“We have a lot of kids that don’t have people in front of them that can help them become successful adults,” Person said.
The court’s biggest request is about $1.1 million to make its two associate judges full-time.
Associate Judge Christina Bridger said she and Associate Judge Donald Lee already play a supporting role.
“We do take on a lot of the extra, or what I would say is the overload of cases that our three full-time judges do have and handle,” Bridger said.
County commissioners will consider the court’s requests when Commission Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson presents a budget next month.
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