Room, Board and Watchful Oversight Programs and Community-Based Services

Room, Board and Watchful Oversight (RBWO) is the provision of lodging, food, and the attentive and responsible care of children. RBWO is administered by Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ)-Division of Community Services and The Department of Human Services Office of Provider Management (OPM). RBWO was implemented in the state of Georgia on July 1, 2007. DJJ & OPM are committed to ensuring that each child has a safe place to live; adequately nutritious meals; and continuous watchful oversight to ensure basic safety needs are met.

The following program categories were established for Room, Board, and Watchful Oversight:

  • Child Caring Institutions (CCI) 

  • Child Placing Agencies (CPA) 

Youth are placed in the best oversight environment based on their behaviors and characteristics. There are four main areas of a child’s life that are assessed to determine the best placement:

  •  School Adjustment 

  •  Performance in Home Environment 

  •  Social and Community Activities 

  •  Health and Developmental Factors 

The Department of Juvenile Justice currently have (5) Residential Treatment Services Specialists who are assigned to the (4) Regions for the department. They will focus on supporting DJJ and their assigned providers by:

  •  Holding providers accountable for the care of children through monitoring and  inspections 

  •  Developing, measuring and enforcing provider contract deliverables 

  • Mediating provider concerns 

  •  Assisting Providers with on-going training needs for serving DJJ youth 

  •  Assisting in placement, removal, step-downs of DJJ placed youth 

  •  Acting as a liaison to DHS & DFCS for provider and child placement initiatives and  concerns