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Public defender for teens: FCJJ progress is good, statewide changes still needed

By: Erin Christy

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TULSA, Okla. — Kelley Feldhake is a Tulsa County Public Defender for the juvenile court.

She knew about the sexual, physical, and emotional abuse allegations at the Tulsa County Detention Center before they surfaced to the public earlier this spring.

“I remember, one time, we were in the middle of court, and one of our kids stood up and said, ‘They are treating us like animals,” she recalled.

Feldhake’s job is to fight for the teens in court, but for months, she has also been fighting for humanity.

“There was a whole month I spent arguing that they are not getting enough food,” said Feldhake.

Recent efforts to improve the facility included moving her office to inside the facility.

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This gives her full access to her clients, and she can randomly check in on their well-being at any time. Before, she said communication with them was made difficult by the people in charge.
“And that is why it took so long for us to put the pieces of the puzzle together of what was happening to them,” she said.

Feldhake is pleased with recent changes, such as increased medical care, proper schooling, and spending the required amount of time outside of their cells.

“Kids who have been released and have come back have told me it’s a lot better,” she said.

Feldhake adds that the residents recently had an ice cream party when, under previous leadership, that would not have happened.

However, she is concerned that talk of improving conditions will overshadow the need for real, long-term change.

“The negative thing that happened in detention put it in a spotlight, but I don’t want the spotlight to go away,” she said.

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Feldhake believes too many kids are being detained. She said other states limit bookings to serious crimes.
“The longer they are back there, the more it negatively impacts them,” she said. “The kids being held in detention should only be held in detention if they are a serious public safety threat."

She said some kids are detained for things like a school fight.

She believes that the lack of juvenile treatment options is a statewide travesty. For example, Oklahoma does not have a treatment program for juvenile sex offenders.

“Right now, we currently send them to Tennessee,” she said. “I’ve held so many moms crying after the delinquency hearing, telling me [their child] needs help.”

Feldhake is urging the state to improve the living conditions of the juveniles and their life, as well, because saving them saves the community.

“I don’t care what they have done, there is not a single kid back there not worth trying to save,” she said.

Part of the changes also includes setting up a citizens advisory committee. The committee met for the first time on Sept. 26.

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