Chilton County took the next step in making sure that the betterment of the youth of the county are at the top of the list during a meet-and-greet on Wednesday in Clanton City Hall.

The meeting allowed county law enforcement and school officials the opportunity to ask questions to members that have a hand in the juvenile justice system process.

Those members included Celia Flanagan, truancy officer with the Chilton County Board of Education; Chris Speaks, newly elected district judge; C.J. Robinson, chief deputy district attorney and Carolyn Locke, Helping Families Initiative officer with the district attorney’s office.

It was an open forum, and each of the four was given the chance to field questions posed by those in attendance.

This is the first school semester that the HFI program has taken place in Chilton County, following years of success in Elmore and Autauga counties.

According to Robinson, the addition of Chilton County makes the 19th district (Elmore, Autauga and Chilton) the first multi-county district to fully compliant in the state.

“We are on the right path,” Chilton County Superintendent of Education Tommy Glasscock said.

Flanagan is new in her role of truancy officer, and is focused on cutting down the number of no-shows and non-enrollments that schools throughout the county are dealing with.

“I’m pulling reports from schools every week,” Flanagan said. “I plan to take a proactive approach.”

Speaks will take over for Rhonda Hardesty on Jan. 15 and has been practicing law in Chilton County for the past 26 years.

“Children have always been my passion,” Speaks said. “I am a strong believer in the Chilton County school system and what it stands for.”

Locke and Robinson will work closely together at the HFI office to help families and children deal with the adversity of childhood delinquency.

“We try to find out the issue that is causing a child to act out or not attend school,” Locke said. “When you disrupt a classroom, everyone suffers.”

The primary target range is for the HFI program to focus on kids from Kindergarten to 6th grade. However, the program can help up to 16 years old in extreme circumstances.

“No matter if you’re in law enforcement or the school system, we all have to work together to find a solution,” said Clanton Police officer David Hicks, who helped arrange the meeting.