Nearly half of all guards in Georgia's juvenile lockups left last year, wasting millions of dollars spent on their training and contributing to incidents of violence involving the youth, a new Georgia audit reports. While the audit says that no single factor explains the 49 percent turnover rate for juvenile correctional officers, it lays out a stark picture of their work conditions. Officers start at only about $24,000 a year, have slim chances for promotion, and must work long shifts without overtime pay.
Training each new officer costs more than $19,000. But more than 30 percent left within six months of their hiring, and last year 55 percent of new hires departed by the one-year mark. Overall, the statewide turnover rate decreased slightly last year, after having drastically increased from 2010 to 2012. The DeKalb facility showed one of the steepest declines in turnover, dropping from 102 percent to 75 percent, but the turnover rate at the Marietta facility jumped from 37 percent to 76 percent, the report says.
Last year, a federal report on inappropriate sexual conduct in juvenile detention centers listed Georgia as among the nation’s four worst. The audit says that minimum staffing and inexperienced officers may be factors in incidents and make it difficult for DJJ to provide a safe, security environment.
