CHINS

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A “Child in Need of Services” under Georgia law means a child who is in need of guidance, counseling, structure, supervision, treatment or rehabilitation. These children are brought to Juvenile Court if they have committed a status offense. Examples of status offenses are Ungovernable, Unruly, Truancy, Underage Possession of Alcohol, and Runaway. The Cherokee County CHINS program is a diversion program to prevent children from having further involvement in the court system. Our mission is to identify at-risk youth and provide appropriate out-of- court intervention services while continually assessing the needs of the youth and family to determine if services should be modified. A youth can become involved in the program for a variety of reasons such as immature decision making, temporary crisis in the family, substance abuse, untreated mental health needs of the child/parent, or even issues of abuse or neglect. It is vital to initially assess the needs of the child and family to determine the cause of the youth’s behavior so that appropriate services can be  provided. The CHINS program offers oversight and a variety of different services such as anger management classes, behavioral health evaluations, counseling referrals, parent/teen communication group, dare to dream program, mentor programs, and many more! April Timms is the CHINS Program Manager, she can be reached at 678-493-6256 or email altimms@cherokeecountyga.gov.

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