Thousands of children across Georgia are thrust into juvenile courtrooms each year, often feeling overwhelmed and unprepared for the experience. But that could be changing through the efforts of one local teen.
In the past year, Sanjana Shah, a senior at Johns Creek High School and an award-winning student writer, has researched and published an age-appropriate book and an activity booklet to help these youngsters.
Credit: Phil Skinner
Using money she raised, she’s mailed out 2,000 copies of her resources to court programs, child advocacy organizations, and Court Appointed Special Advocate(CASA) programs in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Sanjana’s 36-page book, “Lily Testifies in Court: A Book for Children in Criminal Court,” is designed to help foster children and young crime victims, ages 8 to 15, understand the ins and outs of juvenile court, everything from testifying on the witness stand to who will be in the courtroom, and what the room will look like. It’s drawn on Sanjana’s research and her interviews, primarily with juvenile court officials in Fulton and Forsyth counties…