FrozenInMinn
11-27-2004, 08:23 AM
Kids' penalties criticized
Minor offenders often locked up
By JILL YOUNG MILLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/26/04
Georgia's juvenile justice officials want to get rid of a program they
say is bad for children and costs the state about $23 million a year.
Under the program, kids who have committed such minor offenses as
skipping school and breaking curfews are being locked up alongside
armed robbers and other violent offenders.
They're "palling around with our designated felons," said Bill Reilly,
chief of staff at the Department of Juvenile Justice.
And they often get into deeper trouble with the law after they are
released, research indicates.
But for DJJ to do away with the program, a 1994 law would have to be
repealed. That law gives juvenile court judges broad authority to
sentence children up to 90 days in one of the state's youth prisons.
DJJ officials are hoping for Gov. Sonny Perdue's blessing of their
substitute plan during budget discussions next week.
The idea of eliminating the program is getting mixed reactions from
juvenile court judges across the state. Some are afraid to lose the
short-term program, or STP. Options to help kids are scarce to
nonexistent in many of their communities, especially in rural Georgia,
so judges send them to DJJ prisons hoping the state can help.
"At first blush, to say we're going to get rid of STP, do you see what
that's going to do to rural judges?" asked Steven Teske, a Clayton
County juvenile court judge and member of the executive committee of
the Council of Juvenile Court Judges of Georgia.
"You're taking away one of the only tools they have."
Legacy of boot camps
That tool is a holdover from Georgia's crackdown on juvenile crime a
decade ago, which created 90-day military-style boot camps. After it
became clear that the boot camps were not rehabilitating children,
Orlando Martinez, who was DJJ commissioner at the time, phased them out
in 2000.
But judges' authority to lock up a wide range of young offenders for up
to 90 days remained on the books.
"There have been armed robbers sent there side by side with
shoplifters," said Pete Colbenson, executive director of the Children
and Youth Coordinating Council. "The program is open to virtually any
juvenile offender coming before the court."
More than half of the kids locked up under the program had no prior
criminal record and probably should have remained in their communities
on supervised probation, DJJ officials say.
To make their plan more appealing to judges, they propose sending $10
million of the DJJ's budget to juvenile courts. About $200,000 a year
in grants would go to each of the state's 49 judicial circuits,
officials say.
The money could be used to create or strengthen local programs for
truancy prevention, alcohol and drug counseling, anger management or
other ideas, they say.
"This is a golden opportunity for the judges to be key players in
designing those programs," DJJ Commissioner Albert Murray said.
John Worcester-Holland, chief juvenile court judge in North Georgia's
Gilmer, Fannin and Pickens counties, said he supports DJJ's plan
because his communities desperately need more programs for troubled
children.
"Everything that I have seen in terms of literature says that the
90-day program is not particularly effective," Worcester-Holland said.
"Then what's the point of sending kids off for that long? I'm willing
to try anything."
Some judges, however, say the amount DJJ is offering is too little to
establish effective local programs. Bill Tribble is the juvenile court
judge for Laurens, Johnson, Treutlen and Twiggs counties in Middle
Georgia. He would like to set up mental health, sexual abuse treatment
and other programs for youngsters in his circuit, but said he can't
imagine how to do that with $200,000.
"Yes, I would work with DJJ," Tribble said. "But I need more money than
that. Then we'd do a really good job."
Judge O. Wayne Ellerbee, who works in Lowndes and Echols counties in
the far southern part of Georgia, said he's firmly against DJJ's plan,
which he called "just a way of abrogating responsibility" for troubled
kids.
Ellerbee said he often uses the short-term program to remove young
offenders from bad influences, including family and friends. If it's
eliminated, he said, "there's no ability of a court to get a child out
of an environment in order to modify their behavior, teach them that
there's a different way of life."
Several juvenile court judges declined to comment for this article,
saying they wanted more time to study DJJ's proposal.
As of mid-November, 440 boys and girls were locked up under the
short-term program in the state's youth development campuses, or youth
prisons, where they constituted 36 percent of the population. Another
232 were being held in regional youth detention centers, awaiting
short-term program beds.
And once kids are released from the short-term program, they're more
likely to get into trouble again than kids put on supervised probation
in their communities, according to an independent analysis obtained by
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Children who serve time under the
program also are more likely than their cohorts on probation to
re-enter the juvenile justice system on a felony.
"Once they enter the juvenile justice system, it is a revolving door
because they learn to be more effective criminals," said Normer Adams,
executive director of the Georgia Association of Homes and Services for
Children. "We've always known that community-based programs are more
effective for children."
Degrees of probation
In addition to the $10 million in grants, DJJ officials propose a
"probation sanction program." It's aimed at kids who have already had a
brush with the law and are on probation in their communities.
The program is designed to swiftly punish young offenders who violate
probation, while including treatment to reduce their risk of getting
into more trouble, officials say.
The sanctions would get more serious with each probation violation. The
first level would keep young offenders in their communities on stricter
conditions of probation. The next levels would entail seven, then 14,
then 45 days in confinement. The final sanction is up to six months of
confinement, if a child commits a serious felony while on probation.
It's "swift, sure, and it certainly isn't soft on crime like our
critics say it is," said Reilly, DJJ's chief of staff and a former
juvenile court judge. "It's a program that has teeth in it, and the
children know up front what's going to happen when they violate."
Rob Rosenbloom, DJJ deputy commissioner, said the proposal provides
"the sanctions that judges in the community want out of probation. If
the youth is going to be in the community, they want to know that
they're under appropriate supervision and that there are appropriate
consequences for their behavior."
Judge Teske, who said he favors DJJ's proposal, said many judges are
leery. They wonder if they can trust DJJ's probation officers to take
action when a child violates probation and should be locked up, or if
they'll "turn a blind eye," he said.
Judges "need to have assurances that the concept will work as they [DJJ
officials] are saying they want it to work," Teske said. "They're going
to need to set up a system of accountability."
Said DJJ's Reilly: "We're working on that. We're going to be leaning on
our probation offers to report violations — but at the same time to
supervise their kids so they don't move up to that level."
Minor offenders often locked up
By JILL YOUNG MILLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/26/04
Georgia's juvenile justice officials want to get rid of a program they
say is bad for children and costs the state about $23 million a year.
Under the program, kids who have committed such minor offenses as
skipping school and breaking curfews are being locked up alongside
armed robbers and other violent offenders.
They're "palling around with our designated felons," said Bill Reilly,
chief of staff at the Department of Juvenile Justice.
And they often get into deeper trouble with the law after they are
released, research indicates.
But for DJJ to do away with the program, a 1994 law would have to be
repealed. That law gives juvenile court judges broad authority to
sentence children up to 90 days in one of the state's youth prisons.
DJJ officials are hoping for Gov. Sonny Perdue's blessing of their
substitute plan during budget discussions next week.
The idea of eliminating the program is getting mixed reactions from
juvenile court judges across the state. Some are afraid to lose the
short-term program, or STP. Options to help kids are scarce to
nonexistent in many of their communities, especially in rural Georgia,
so judges send them to DJJ prisons hoping the state can help.
"At first blush, to say we're going to get rid of STP, do you see what
that's going to do to rural judges?" asked Steven Teske, a Clayton
County juvenile court judge and member of the executive committee of
the Council of Juvenile Court Judges of Georgia.
"You're taking away one of the only tools they have."
Legacy of boot camps
That tool is a holdover from Georgia's crackdown on juvenile crime a
decade ago, which created 90-day military-style boot camps. After it
became clear that the boot camps were not rehabilitating children,
Orlando Martinez, who was DJJ commissioner at the time, phased them out
in 2000.
But judges' authority to lock up a wide range of young offenders for up
to 90 days remained on the books.
"There have been armed robbers sent there side by side with
shoplifters," said Pete Colbenson, executive director of the Children
and Youth Coordinating Council. "The program is open to virtually any
juvenile offender coming before the court."
More than half of the kids locked up under the program had no prior
criminal record and probably should have remained in their communities
on supervised probation, DJJ officials say.
To make their plan more appealing to judges, they propose sending $10
million of the DJJ's budget to juvenile courts. About $200,000 a year
in grants would go to each of the state's 49 judicial circuits,
officials say.
The money could be used to create or strengthen local programs for
truancy prevention, alcohol and drug counseling, anger management or
other ideas, they say.
"This is a golden opportunity for the judges to be key players in
designing those programs," DJJ Commissioner Albert Murray said.
John Worcester-Holland, chief juvenile court judge in North Georgia's
Gilmer, Fannin and Pickens counties, said he supports DJJ's plan
because his communities desperately need more programs for troubled
children.
"Everything that I have seen in terms of literature says that the
90-day program is not particularly effective," Worcester-Holland said.
"Then what's the point of sending kids off for that long? I'm willing
to try anything."
Some judges, however, say the amount DJJ is offering is too little to
establish effective local programs. Bill Tribble is the juvenile court
judge for Laurens, Johnson, Treutlen and Twiggs counties in Middle
Georgia. He would like to set up mental health, sexual abuse treatment
and other programs for youngsters in his circuit, but said he can't
imagine how to do that with $200,000.
"Yes, I would work with DJJ," Tribble said. "But I need more money than
that. Then we'd do a really good job."
Judge O. Wayne Ellerbee, who works in Lowndes and Echols counties in
the far southern part of Georgia, said he's firmly against DJJ's plan,
which he called "just a way of abrogating responsibility" for troubled
kids.
Ellerbee said he often uses the short-term program to remove young
offenders from bad influences, including family and friends. If it's
eliminated, he said, "there's no ability of a court to get a child out
of an environment in order to modify their behavior, teach them that
there's a different way of life."
Several juvenile court judges declined to comment for this article,
saying they wanted more time to study DJJ's proposal.
As of mid-November, 440 boys and girls were locked up under the
short-term program in the state's youth development campuses, or youth
prisons, where they constituted 36 percent of the population. Another
232 were being held in regional youth detention centers, awaiting
short-term program beds.
And once kids are released from the short-term program, they're more
likely to get into trouble again than kids put on supervised probation
in their communities, according to an independent analysis obtained by
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Children who serve time under the
program also are more likely than their cohorts on probation to
re-enter the juvenile justice system on a felony.
"Once they enter the juvenile justice system, it is a revolving door
because they learn to be more effective criminals," said Normer Adams,
executive director of the Georgia Association of Homes and Services for
Children. "We've always known that community-based programs are more
effective for children."
Degrees of probation
In addition to the $10 million in grants, DJJ officials propose a
"probation sanction program." It's aimed at kids who have already had a
brush with the law and are on probation in their communities.
The program is designed to swiftly punish young offenders who violate
probation, while including treatment to reduce their risk of getting
into more trouble, officials say.
The sanctions would get more serious with each probation violation. The
first level would keep young offenders in their communities on stricter
conditions of probation. The next levels would entail seven, then 14,
then 45 days in confinement. The final sanction is up to six months of
confinement, if a child commits a serious felony while on probation.
It's "swift, sure, and it certainly isn't soft on crime like our
critics say it is," said Reilly, DJJ's chief of staff and a former
juvenile court judge. "It's a program that has teeth in it, and the
children know up front what's going to happen when they violate."
Rob Rosenbloom, DJJ deputy commissioner, said the proposal provides
"the sanctions that judges in the community want out of probation. If
the youth is going to be in the community, they want to know that
they're under appropriate supervision and that there are appropriate
consequences for their behavior."
Judge Teske, who said he favors DJJ's proposal, said many judges are
leery. They wonder if they can trust DJJ's probation officers to take
action when a child violates probation and should be locked up, or if
they'll "turn a blind eye," he said.
Judges "need to have assurances that the concept will work as they [DJJ
officials] are saying they want it to work," Teske said. "They're going
to need to set up a system of accountability."
Said DJJ's Reilly: "We're working on that. We're going to be leaning on
our probation offers to report violations — but at the same time to
supervise their kids so they don't move up to that level."