'Our mission, no matter what'

Days after the public Playmaking for Girls performance, CNN called the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice for comment about the theater program. Spokesman Jim Shuler called back to say the department would not participate in the story. The department's top leaders were not aware CNN had recorded Playmaking for Girls rehearsals inside a Department of Juvenile Justice facility where parole officers work with recently released youths. (None of the girls in Playmaking for Girls' summer program were in the care of the Department of Juvenile Justice. All had release forms from Playmaking for Girls signed by their guardians.) Because Playmaking for Girls had not sought permission from the state office, the department severed its relationship with Playmaking for Girls, and planned to implement a process to screen all volunteers working with the juvenile justice system. Synchronicity Theatre is allowed to reapply to work with youth incarcerated in Georgia. A written statement sent by Shuler said "DJJ considers the policy violation by Playmaking for Girls an egregious one. Fortunately, DJJ did not have any youth participating in the program this year and no Georgia youth identities were compromised by the violation committed by the 'Playmaking for Girls' instructors. However, DJJ now declines participation in that project where the DJJ Communications Policy was violated and the program elements were obtained by news media in an unauthorized manner. "Meanwhile, DJJ will have no further relationship with the Playmaking for Girls program." Playmaking for Girls directors say they're deciding what their next steps will be. They'll continue to work to give girls a voice, they said, although the program might take a different form than it has for the last decade.