A longtime vocal proponent of juvenile-justice reform coming to Blueprints to share his experience
The Georgia justice system was, to put it mildly, not stellar. The state had gotten on the tough-on-crime bandwagon in the early 90s. That led to the number of prisoners in state lockups jumping from 20,000 in 1990 to 50,000 14 years later. The numbers looked even worse when you considered that a 2009 Pew study determined that one in 13 Georgians were either in jail, on probation or parole. This gave Georgia the dubious distinction of having the highest such rate in the country. Throw into this mix that although blacks were only 31 percent of the state’s population, they accounted for 58 percent of prisoners.
But things have been changing as the attitude of sweep up offenders, even ones who commit lesser crimes, and throw them into prison has changed. Judge Steven C. Teske has been at the forefront of that movement. He is a highly respected jurist who started his career in the justice- system trenches as Atlanta’s Chief Parole Officer, working his way up to chief judge of Clayton County’s juvenile court.
Along the way, he saw close up what the state was doing wrong and became a firm believer that the reliance on juvenile prisons should be reduced. Instead, an emphasis on alternative ways to handling youthful offenders was imperative.
Getting young offenders into evidence-based practices
One such approach was developed as Second Chance Court, a program where kids stayed at home and went to school under close supervision. At the same time, some were put into evidence-based programs (EBPs), such as Multisystemic Therapy (MST). It took only nine months after Second Chance and similar programs were made available that the counties using them enjoyed a 62-percent drop in kids placed out of the home. That meant instead of spending $90,000 a year for each offender, the price tag was between $6,000 and $8,000.
Judge Teske served on the governor’s Criminal Justice Reform Council, which was instrumental in getting programs like Second Chance funded. As he saw it, if kids are sent to prison, “I guarantee you prison would be in their life forever.”
These reforms resulted in two juvenile prisons being closed, at great savings to the taxpayers. And now, Judge Teske says, MST is being provided “at a scale I would never thought possible in the state of Georgia.”
Judge Steven Teske at MST pre-conference
The judge will be addressing the MST pre-conference April 11 in Denver. Among other topics, he will talk about the importance of turning judges in advocates when it comes to juvenile-justice reform. Getting them to see that locking up kids is detrimental to the juveniles, families and community. There are better ways to handle youthful criminals. Judges might take a look at a survey of Georgia probation officers who said they want MST to be used more, that it is the evidence-based practice they want implemented.
Judge Teske is a regular contributor to Juvenile Justice Information Exchange and Youth Today. His book, Reform Juvenile Justice Now, is a collection of essays on juvenile-justice issues. He served two terms on the Federal Advisory Committee for Juvenile Justice. This is a man who know whereof he speaks.
