They are the guides who help kids in trouble with the law, but the Alachua Regional Juvenile Assessment Center will closed down June 30th and as of right now, no one will take their place. There are 30 employees who work at the Assessment Center and all of them are loosing their job. They received a letter last week saying that by midnight on June 30th, they will be closed for good.
The Alachua JAC is one of five assessment centers and it's the largest one in the state, covering eleven counties. It is funded by both area law enforcement and the state, but the state legislature stopped funding it as a result of a budget cuts. The state of Florida is not required by law to have Juvenile Assessment Centers, but Lead Screener Diana Kim says they help law enforcement out tremendously.
"The amount of probation officers as well as the detention centers, whoever is going to have this responsibility, they are going to be stretched, so by them having additional duties is going to really compromise on how well they will be able to provide sources to juveniles."
Alachua County Sheriff's deputies could not comment about the closing of the center because they just recently found out about it and have yet had a meeting to discuss what they are going to do after June 30th.