Arkansas § 9-28-201 - Legislative intent and purpose.

§ 9-28-201. Legislative intent and purpose.

The General Assembly recognizes that the state has a responsibility to provide its youth with appropriate services and programs to help decrease the number of juvenile offenders in the state and to create a better future for the state's youth and that reforms in the juvenile justice system require oversight by an organization with special expertise in the problems of juvenile offenders. Therefore, the General Assembly declares that this subchapter is necessary to create a single entity within the Department of Human Services with primary responsibility for coordinating, sponsoring, and providing services to Arkansas's youth and to create a structure within state government that will be responsive to the needs of the state's youth. The purposes of this subchapter include without limitation to: Maintain public safety and improve outcomes for Arkansas youth and families involved in the juvenile justice system through validated risk assessments; Reduce the number of secure out-of-home placements; Redirect funding from secure residential facilities to evidence-based community services; and Enhance treatment for youth committed to the Division of Youth Services.