DMC Action Network: October 2007 Meeting

The DMC Action Network held its first annual meeting in Washington, DC on October 24th and October 25th. The meeting was attended by approximately 75 people including juvenile justice advocates, defense attorneys, judges, prosecutors, community members and others working most closely to address DMC at the local level.

The DMC Action Network is a national platform designed to expand the work of state and local jurisdictions to achieve sustainable reductions in racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system. The Network is a component of the MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change juvenile justice reform initiative, in which DMC is a targeted area of improvement.

This first annual meeting provided an opportunity for the 12 DMC Action Network sites across the country to convene and discuss the many successful DMC reduction strategies in each of the sites, and to learn from their Network counterparts and other national DMC and juvenile justice experts. The 12 Network sites include Berks County, PA; Allegheny County, PA; Philadelphia, PA; Peoria, IL; Jefferson Parish, LA; Rapides Parish, LA; Pierce County, WA; Benton and Franklin Counties, WA; Baltimore City, MD; Rock County, WI; Sedgwick County, KS; and Union County, NC.

The meeting featured a series of workshops and presentations on six strategic innovations to effectively reduce DMC, such as data-driven practices, alternative programs and diversion services, cultural competence and community responsiveness, ethnicity and language data collection, post-disposition DMC issues, and risk screening tools. Each Network site will select and implement at least one strategic innovation during Year 1 of its participation in the DMC Action Network. Presentations are available online. 

Opening Session

• Overview of the Models for Change Initiative and the DMC Action Network
  Laurie Garduque, Program Director for Research Program on Human and Community Development, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
• A Foundation for Networking
  Lisa Garry, DMC Policy Director - Center for Children’s Law and Policy
• Models for Change Approach to DMC Reduction
  Mark Soler, Executive Director- Center for Children’s Law and Policy

Strategic Innovation Workshops

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
This workshop emphasized concrete steps Network sites can take to develop their data capacity (i.e., regular data collection, analysis and strategic use) and build sustainability in data-driven practices.

Defining DMC and the Success Conversation
• Michael Finley, Senior Program Associate, W. Hayward Burns Institute

Pierce County Juvenile Court: Data Collection and Analysis
• The Honorable Frank Cuthbertson, Pierce County Superior Court (WA)

Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities: Data Collection and Analysis
• Lori Brown, DMC Coordinator, Peoria Children’s Home Association (IL)



CULTURAL COMPETENCE AND COMMUNITY RESPONSIVENESS
This workshop outlined strategies for reviewing and modifying system processes through a cultural competence lens, and ensuring that the DMC reduction and other reform strategies are responsive to the unique needs and preferences of communities of color.

Racially and Culturally Responsive Alternatives to Detention: Santa Cruz County
• Dana Shoenberg, Deputy Director, Center for Children’s Law and Policy

Cultural Competence Continuum

LJJN: A Cultural Competent Model for Juvenile Justice Reform
• Angela Arboleda, Criminal Justice Policy Director, National Council of La Raza

NCLR Competency Fact Sheet
• Angela Arboleda, Criminal Justice Policy Director, National Council of La Raza



ETHNICITY AND LANGUAGE DATA COLLECTION
This workshop featured speakers who have worked on improving data collection regarding ethnicity and language issues in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. They described national standards as well as the steps needed to arrive at and implement a standardized approach to ethnicity and language data collection.

Ethnicity and Data Language Collection
• Francisco Villarruel, Professor, Michigan State University

Language Access and Ethnic Data Considerations in the Juvenile Justice Context
• Angela Arboleda, Criminal Justice Policy Director, National Council of La Raza



ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMS AND DIVERSION SERVICES
This workshop outlined concrete steps taken to develop and expand a continuum of alternative programs to serve low-to-moderate risk youth who would otherwise be detained, innovations in addressing the pipeline betweens school disciplinary methods and the juvenile justice system, and family intervention methods to prevent system entry through the identification and placement of youth and families in community-based resources.

Alternative Programs and Diversion Services: Baltimore City, MD
• Larry Dawson, Family League of Baltimore City, Inc. (MD)
• Maceo Hallmon, Director, East Baltimore Youth & Family Services (MD)

Discipline Interventions: Rapides Parish, LA
• Daphne McGinnis, LaFarge Special Education Center, (LA)

Diversions from the Juvenile Justice System: Union County, NC
• Rebecca Smith, NC Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (Union County, NC)



POST-DISPOSITIONAL DMC ISSUES
This workshop addressed the issue of over-representation beyond secure detention, the use of graduated sanctions to reduce admissions to secure detention for probation violations, explored issues and complications of juvenile re-entry, and began a dialogue about potential best practices in this unexplored area of DMC reduction.

Failure to Adjust” Research on Post-Disposition Commitments in Allegheny County, PA
• Suzanne Pierce, Research Assistant, National Center for Juvenile Justice

Lessons from Missouri and from JDAI
• Gail D. Mumford, Senior Associate, Annie E. Casey Foundation



RISK SCREENING TOOLS
This workshop outlined the steps needed to develop and implement a risk assessment tool, including stakeholder collaboration, design of the instrument, testing and validation.

Detention Risk Screening Tool: Sedgwick County DMC
• Mark Masterson, Department of Corrections (Sedgwick County, KS)

Risk Assessment Instrument Development: Jefferson Parish
• John Ryals, Evaluation/Treatment Supervisor, Jefferson Parrish Department of Juvenile Services (LA)