On July 13th, 2023, participants in the Juvenile Court’s Gang Prevention Specialty Court, were accompanied by court staff and members of the multi-disciplinary team working with the program, as they participated in an escape room outing.  This engaging prosocial activity was held at Urban Escape Games, as participants successfully concluded Phase 4 of the R.I.S.I.N.G (Rebuild Invest Support Integrate Navigate Graduate) Gang Prevention Specialty Court.  The youth and team members were divided into two groups to compete against each other, where each group worked collectively to “escape” in a timed setting.  The R.I.S.I.N.G. team members and program participants worked hard in each of the two groups to “escape” and get to the prize first.  Everyone enjoyed strategic engagement as team members and program participants worked together to successfully complete the mission.

The mission of the R.I.S.I.N.G. Specialty Court is: “To provide court-involved youth in Cobb County alternatives to a gang lifestyle, using a holistic approach of supervision involving treatment, family involvement and court intervention.”  The program was developed to address the behaviors of youth charged with delinquent offenses between the ages of 12-17 who are at high risk of participating in gang activity.  The Court works with a multi-disciplinary team of professionals to provide a combination of individual therapeutic services, family counseling services, group-based services and intensive probation supervision to achieve these goals.  Each child’s individual case management plans are structured by the utilization of an objective, evidence-based risk and needs instrument, called the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI 2.0), combined with other assessment and evaluative processes to increase the likelihood of maximum community safety outcomes.

Grant funding for programmatic services delivered by this program is provided by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council of Georgia.  To learn more about the R.I.S.I.N.G. Gang Prevention Specialty Court, please contact Juvenile Program Coordinator, Jelena Basic at jelena.basic@cobbcounty.org or 770-528-1069.