By Staff
special to the standard
Alabama Governor Bob Riley has awarded $52,124 for a program that holds juvenile offenders in Escambia County accountable for their actions while helping them overcome their problems and complete their education.
The Escambia County Board of Education provides the program as an alternative to suspending or expelling students from school. It provides juveniles with specialized counseling that enables them to accept responsibility for their behavior and refrain from committing additional offenses.
Participants in the program are required to meet with the victims of any offences they may have committed and they also are required to do community service work or obtain a job as a means to make restitution to victims or the community.
County school officials say some students in the program will create pages about drug and alcohol awareness and community service for the school system's Web site.
Riley has notified William N. Hines, Escambia County superintendent, that the grant had been approved. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs will administer the grant from funds made available to the state by the U.S. Department of Justice.