Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities

    In the juvenile justice system, youth of color are disproportionately represented at all stages of the system, and rates of overrepresentation increase as children proceed through the system – a trend known in the field as Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC). Efforts to reduce DMC have three goals: to reduce over]representation of youth of color in the justice system, to reduce racial and ethnic disparities, and to prevent youth of color from entering and moving deeper into the juvenile justice system. Programs such as the MacArthur Foundation's Models for Change initiative, aim to develop ways to meet these goals. The resources below focus on DMC reduction efforts.

    CCLP Publications

    • DMC e-News reports on efforts to reduce Disproportionate Minority Contact, or DMC, in juvenile justice systems in the DMC Action Network. Sign up here to receive DMC eNews by email, or download a previous issue below.

      • DMC eNews Issue #9 -- Tackling DMC at the Deep End of the System  Feb 2010 [Download]
      • DMC eNews Issue #8 -- A New Decade of DMC Reduction  Jan 2010 [Download]
      • DMC eNews Issue #7 -- Expanding the DMC Action Network  Dec 2009 [Download]
      • DMC eNews Issue #6 -- 35 Years of the JJDPA  Nov 2009 [Download]
      • DMC eNews Issue #5 -- DMC Reductions: Signs of Progress  Aug 2009 [Download]
      • DMC eNews Issue #4 -- Third Annual DMC Action Network Meeting  Jul 2009 [Download]
      • DMC eNews Issue #3 -- Burns Institute Data  Feb 2009 [Download]
      • DMC eNews Issue #2 -- What DMC Reduction Is-- and Is Not  Dec 2008 [Download]
      • DMC eNews Issue #1 -- Intro to the DMC Action Network  Nov 2008 [Download]
        
    • Strategies for Serving Hispanic Youth [Download]
      CCLP Senior Staff Attorney Dana Shoenberg co-authored this chapter in the latest edition of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Disproportionate Minority Contact Technical Assistance Manual. The chapter, written with Maria F. Ramiu of the Youth Law Center, describes lessons learned from a two-year project in Washoe County, Nevada, and Travis County, Texas, that was designed to develop new and accurate data collection methods for Hispanic youth and to reduce DMC for Hispanic and other youth at key decision points.
    • Reducing Disproportionate Minority Contact: Preparation at the Local Level [Download]
      The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention released a bulletin on local DMC reductions strategies, co-authored by CCLP's Mark Soler and Lisa Garry. It is the first in a series by OJJDP to address DMC. It provides valuable information on the context in which local preparation occurs, as well as specific strategies to successfully engage communities in DMC reduction efforts. 
    • Guidelines for Collecting and Recording the Race and Ethnicity of Juveniles in Conjunction with Juvenile Delinquency Disposition Reporting to the Juvenile Court Judges' Commission [Download]
      This booklet provides instruction and guidance to local juvenile courts and probation departments on the accurate racial and ethnic coding of juveniles, particularly with respect to Hispanic and Latino youth (with Patricia Torbet & Hunter Hurst, Jr., National Center for Juvenile Justice).
    • Building Blocks for Youth [link]
      Building Blocks for Youth was a multi-strategy, multi-site initiative that featured an alliance of children and youth advocates, researchers, community organizers, and law enforcement professionals working to address DMC. The initiative operated from 1998 to 2005. CCLP maintains a page dedicated to Building Blocks for Youth that contains includes electronic copies of all research reports from the initiative.  
    • No Turning Back: Promising Approaches to Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Justice System [Download]
      This is the final report issued by the Building Blocks for Youth initiative, which details the program's site-based work from 1998 to 2005.

    CCLP Presentations
    • Testimony of Mark Soler to the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, Senate Judiciary Committee, on U.S. Compliance with International Human Rights Treaties [Download]In this testimony from December 2009, Executive Director Mark Soler highlights the issue of disparate treatment of youth of color in the juvenile justice system light of the International Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The testimony outlines how America's juvenile justice system falls short of the principles set forth in the Convention, which afford "[t]he right to equal treatment before the tribunals and all other organs administering justice.
    • Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System [Download]
      In this presentation, Senior Staff Attorney Dana Shoenberg outlines current data on disparities, successful strategies to reduce DMC, and mental health needs of youth in the juvenile justice system.
    • DMC Action Network Process Slides [Download]
      These powerpoint slides visually outline the DMC Action Network's model for DMC reduction and the stakeholders necessary for a diverse DMC governing body.

    Other Resources

    • America's Invisible Children: Latino Youth and the Failure of Justice [Download]
      The Campaign for Youth Justice and the National Council of La Raza detail how Latino youth are treated more harshly than white youth, for similar offenses, at all stages in the justice system. The groups report that 1 out of 4 incarcerated Latino youth are held in adult facilities and make substantive recommendations for reducing disparities throughout the system.
    • Adoration of the Question: Reflections on the Failure to Reduce Racial & Ethnic Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System [Download]
      This the first in a series of reports from the W. Haywood Burns Institute (BI). The series will explore the tools, insights and strategies that the BI has used to help jurisdictions reduce racial and ethnic disparities in their juvenile justice systems.
       
    • Reducing Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System [Download]
      The Sentencing Project has published a new edition of Reducing Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System, a manual for practitioners, policymakers, and community organizations. Although it focuses on the adult system, the manual’s workable solutions and “best practices” also apply to juvenile justice systems.
    • Native American Youth and the Juvenile Justice System [Download]
      This March 2008 study by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency finds that the disproportionate representation of Native American youth in the juvenile justice is at its highest for the two most punitive sanctions: waiver to the adult system and out-of-home placement. Additionally, the report states Native American youth are 30% more likely than White youth to be referred to court, 10% more likely to be detained while awaiting trial, and 50% more likely to receive the most punitive measures.
    • Critical Condition: African-American Youth in the Justice System [Download]
      The Campaign for Youth Justice and the NAACP examine how African-American youth are disproportionately affected by the adult and juvenile justice system. African-American youth overwhelmingly receive harsher treatment than white youth in the juvenile justice system at most stages of case processing. Disparities start at the beginning, when a decision is made to arrest a child. African-American youth make up 30% of those arrested while they only represent 17% of the overall youth population. At the other extreme end of the system, African-American youth are 62% of the youth prosecuted in the adult criminal system and are nine times more likely than white youth to receive an adult prison sentence. This brief also provides examples of promising solutions and policy recommendations to reduce the disparities.
    • A Tangled Web of Justice: American Indian and Alaska Native Youth in Federal, State, and Tribal Justice Systems [Download]
      This policy brief from the Campaign for Youth Justice examines the status of Native youth involved in the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Native American youth are regularly prosecuted in three distinct justice systems: federal, state, and tribal. Native youth are more likely to receive to the two most severe punishments in juvenile
      justice systems: out-of-home placement (i.e., incarceration in a state correctional facility) and waiver to the adult system. Compared to white youth, Native youth are 1.5 times more likely to receive out-of-home placement and are 1.5 times more likely to be waived to the adult criminal system. Nationwide, the average rate of new commitment
      to adult state prison for Native youth is 1.84 times that of white youth.
    • Disproportionate Minority Contact, in The Futue of Children Volume 18 Number 2 Fall 2008 [Download]
      The Fall 2008 issue of The Future of Children featured juvenile justice issues, including DMC. Alex R. Piquero provides an overview of this issue in this article.
    • Disproportionate Minority Contact: Technical Assistance Manual (4th Edition) [Download]
      Updated in July 2009, this Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention publication provides detailed guidance on DMC identification and monitoring, assessment, intervention, and evaluation. Its intended audience is Juvenile Justice Specialists, members of State Planning Agencies and State Advisory Groups, DMC researchers and consultants, and policymakers and practitioners involved in the juvenile justice system at the state and local levels.