NCJ Number
169882
Date Published
1997
Length
54 pages
Annotation
This report is intended to provide State Juvenile Justice Specialists and State Advisory Group members with a national status summary, through 1995, of the nature and extent of disproportionate minority confinement (DMC), the activities chosen to address DMC, and challenges experienced by the States; the report recommends future actions for States to consider in continuing efforts to address DMC.
Abstract
In the 1992 amendments to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention act of 1974, Congress required States to take steps to address DMC. Under these amendments, each State must first determine whether minority juveniles are confined within the State in numbers that are out of proportion to their presence in the general juvenile population (identification phase). If so, the State must then identify and address any features of its system that may be contributing to such disproportionate representation (assessment phase and intervention phase). This report documents State progress to date in complying with this core requirement. The report highlights a variety of strategies and approaches for addressing DMC, including cultural diversity training, community-based alternatives to secure detention and corrections, and public policy revisions. This report concludes that, compared to the first status report in 1993, the States that participate in the Formula Grants Program of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention have made significant progress in addressing the statutory requirement of reducing DMC. All States are making a concerted effort to identify the problem, assess the decision points, and develop an intervention plan to counter the factors that contribute to minority overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system. Recommendations are offered in the areas of data collection and analysis, the development of State intervention plans, and prevention and early intervention. Appended summary of State compliance with the DMC core requirements and 107 references