Judge Steve Teske On The Road Less Traveled to Make Good Law for Kids

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“What begins with anger ends with shame.”

Benjamin Franklin

I was asked this past week to visit the North Carolina General Assembly and speak to legislators about effective juvenile justice practices -- what works and what doesn’t work.  Like Georgia and most states, North Carolina too was hit hard by the economy and is making hard decisions to cut programs — the state is 3.6 billion in the hole. The irony of budgeting in a fiscal crisis is that it forces policymakers to scrutinize the way things have always been done. When you have to cut, the question is what to cut and hopefully the less effective programs are cut and replaced by more effective and cost efficient alternatives. Our discussions in North Carolina focused on what works and what doesn’t work -- and typically what works is more cost effective. What doesn’t work is less effective and more expensive to the taxpayer --incarceration of kids in most circumstances is ineffective.

April 29, 2011

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Read up:

Newt Gingrich Among Conservatives Backing NAACP Prison Reform Report:
http://bit.ly/NAACPreports

Want to Ask the Nation a Couple of Questions?:
http://bit.ly/juvypoll

Georgia Foster Kids' Psych Drug Use Under Review:
http://bit.ly/fostermeds

Host: Ryan Schill
Multimedia: Clay Duda

Michelle Turner – An Open Letter to the Cobb County, Ga., District Attorney

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Dear District Attorney Head;

I am writing in reference to the 16-year-old Cobb County boy who is being charged with two misdemeanor counts, including second degree vehicular homicide, in connection with an April 13 accident that claimed the life of the boy's mother. My name is Michelle Turner, and my family has been through almost exactly the same experience as this 16-year-old. I am begging you not to pursue charges against this boy. His life has already been drastically changed. He will forever have to live with the fact that he was driving the car on that horrific day when the accident took place.

Libby McCullough on her Son, Aspergers and the School to Prison Pipeline

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It began with “he doesn’t need Special Ed.”

After that, it included numerous suspensions, hours in locked rooms, delayed meals, restraint and, later, handcuffs. It included endless meetings for his Individualized Education Plan (IEP), numerous phone calls at work, tears, family medical leave, medications that did not work and the loss of TWO jobs in only three years. It included endless research, assumptions about my parenting skills, retaliation, and ignored requests. It also required labels such as EBD, SEBD, and others. But it never included P.E., art or music, field trips, making friends with kids at school or learning challenging materials.

Want to Ask the Nation a Couple of Questions?

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The A.L. Burruss Institute of Public Service and Research at Kennesaw State University in Georgia has invited the JJIE to submit two questions about juvenile justice for a nationwide poll. Here’s a chance to measure the public’s opinion on any number of important matters impacting our youth today, from program funding, to crime, to education. It’s a big issue, juvenile justice, too big to be covered in two questions. So we’re forced to whittle it down. Are you interested in helping?

Georgia Foster Kids’ Psych Drug Use Under Review

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More than a third of foster children in Georgia are prescribed psychotropic drugs — medications like antidepressants and mood stabilizers. Because so many foster children are using the drugs, a new review aims to provide better oversight over their usage. The review is expected to reduce prescriptions of expensive psychotropic drugs within the foster care system. “You are going to save money, and you’re going to provide good medical care,” Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Georgia currently spends $7.87 million year on psychotropic drugs.

April 22, 2011

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Read up:

Oxycontin Abuse Plagues Ohio:
http://bit.ly/NYToxy

Prescribed Addiction:

Kyle

Father Furious at Police for Charging Son:
http://bit.ly/eUKrno

Part Five: The Big Trouble With Oxy

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Just joining us? This is part five of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Scott Merritt, a certified addictions counselor and licensed therapist in metro Atlanta, estimates that about 40 percent of kids in Cobb County high schools use illegal drugs, including alcohol. Though federal officials say the rates nationwide are lower, Merritt isn’t pulling that 40 percent out of thin air.

Part Five: A Day In Drug Court

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Just joining us? This is part five of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Cobb County, Ga’s., Juvenile Court Judge Juanita Stedman’s office overflows every Wednesday at 4 p.m. For an hour, with therapists and probation officers filling every chair and – with several sitting on the floor – Stedman and her juvenile drug court team do a rundown of every kid currently in the program. One by one, Stedman calls out the name of each of 30 or so kids.

Part Four: Redemption and Temptation

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Just joining us? This is part four of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Kyle is now only a little more than four and a half months clean. His last relapse came during the Thanksgiving break of 2010.