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ICJI > Youth Services > Disproportionate Minority Contact Disproportionate Minority Contact

What is Disproportionate Minority Contact?

Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) refers to overrepresentation (and at times underrepresentation) of minority youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system at a rate that is not proportionate to their representation in their general population. 

The different racial and ethnic groups are:

  • White (Non-Hispanic)
  • Black or African American (Non-Hispanic)
  • Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
  • American Indian or Alaska Native (Non-Hispanic)
  • Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders (Non-Hispanic)
  • Asian (Non-Hispanic)
  • Mixed or Other (Non-Hispanic)

Contact refers to the different decision points along the juvenile justice system continuum.

  • Arrests
  • Referrals
  • Diversion
  • Secure Detention
  • Petition Filed
  • Delinquent Findings
  • Probation
  • Secure Confinement
  • Waived to Adult Court

Section 223(a)(23) of the JJDP Act provides that the State shall:
"Address efforts to reduce the proportion of juveniles detained or confined in secure detention facilities, secure correctional facilities, jails and lockups who are members of minority groups if the proportion exceeds the proportion of such groups in the general population."

  • Disproportionate Minority Contact: The JJDP Act of 2002, signed into law on November 2, 2002, modified the DMC requirement of the Act as follows: "addressing juvenile delinquency prevention efforts and system improvement efforts designed to reduce, without establishing or requiring numerical standards or quotas, the disproportionate number of juvenile members of minority groups who come into contact with the juvenile justice system." This change broadens the DMC initiative from disproportionate minority "confinement" to disproportionate minority "contact" by requiring an examination of possible disproportionate representation of minority youth at all decision points along the juvenile justice system continuum. It further requires multi-pronged intervention strategies including not only juvenile delinquency prevention efforts but also system improvement efforts to assure equal treatment of all youth. 
     

DMC as a core requirement of the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act of 2002

In order to participate in the federal Formula Grant Programs, which provides financial support for delinquency prevention and intervention efforts, states are required to achieve and maintain compliance with the four core requirements of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 2002.

The four core requirements are:

  • Deinstitutionalization of status offenders 
  • Sight and sound separation
  • Jail removal
  • Disproportionate minority contact  

In response to overwhelming evidence that minority youth were being disproportionately confined in secure facilities across the nation, the JJDP Act of 1974 was amended in 1988, requiring states to address this issue. Specifically, if the proportionate of minority groups detained or confined in secure detention facilities, secure correctional facilities, jails, and lockups exceed the proportion such group represents in the general population, the state is required to develop and implement a plan to reduce the disproportionality (Section 223(a) (22). 

With growing evidence suggesting that the disproportionate representation of minority youth was not only occurring at the confinement decision point, but also at other contact points along the juvenile justice system continuum, the JJDP Act was amended in 2002.  The JJDP Act of 2002 now requires states to address disproportionality at all decision points as opposed to just secure confinement. Specifically, the changes required states “to address juvenile delinquency prevention efforts and system improvement efforts designed to reduce, without establishing or requiring numerical standards or quotas, the disproportionate number of minority group youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system.” States that fail to meet this requirement risk losing 20 percent of their formula grant funding. 

Regardless of the changes that were made to the JJDP Act, the purpose remains the same, and that is to ensure that all youth who come into the contact with the juvenile justice system receive fair and equitable treatment regardless of race and ethnicity. For additional information about the JJDP Act, please visit this link.

The DMC Reduction Model

To help comply with the DMC core requirement, states are required to adopt and implement the DMC Reduction Model developed by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), the federal entity charged with overseeing the Formula Grant Program. The model has five continuous steps that are designed to: DMC Model

  • Identification:
    Determine if DMC exists, and if so, to what extent.
  • Assessment:
    Using a quantitative and qualitative approach, assess the mechanisms that are contributing to DMC.
  • Intervention:
    Develop and implement intervention strategies to address the reasons identified in the previous stage.
  • Evaluation:
    Conduct an evaluation of effectiveness of the intervention strategies that were implemented.
  • Monitoring:
    Track changes in DMC trends and adjust intervention strategies as needed.

Indiana’s DMC Reduction Efforts

As the administering agency for the state of Indiana, the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) routinely receives and allocates federal Formula Grant funding. ICJI is also tasked with ensuring that Indiana achieves and maintains compliance with the four core requirements. For additional information about the first three core requirements and how they are being addressed in the state of Indiana, please visit http://www.youthlawteam.org/compliance.html.

Statewide DMC Data Collection Project

Indiana is in compliance with the DMC core requirement. In early 2012, the state, with the assistance of the Indiana University Center for Criminal Justice Research, completed a statewide DMC data collection project during which data was collection for all of Indiana’s 92, for 8 of the 9 decision points, for 2005 through 2009. The project was designed to help determine if DMC exists across of the state and if so, to what extent. The completion of the project also aligns with Indiana’s efforts to improve its juvenile justice system, including the reduction of racial and ethnic disparities. The report will enable us to further explore the mechanisms that are contributing to racial disparities and DMC in Indiana’s juvenile justice system. It will help counties understand how they can assist in maintaining compliance with the JJDP Act, and most importantly, help to improve outcomes for youth and their families who come in contact with the juvenile justice system. Click here to view a copy of the full report. 

DMC Assessment

Partnering with Community Solutions and the Center for Criminal Justice Research, the state is in the process of completing a DMC assessment in LaPorte, Allen, and Vanderburgh Counties. Using a qualitative and quantitative approach, researchers will work with each county to identify the mechanisms and factors that are contributing to DMC in the counties mentioned above. Once the assessment study is complete, the results will be summarized in a report, which should be available spring of 2013.
 
Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative

Indiana was recently designated a statewide Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) site by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. JDAI, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is a detention reform and juvenile justice system improvement initiative that has demonstrated over 20 years, in urban and rural jurisdictions, that moving low-risk youth from secure detention into community-based alternative programs is excellent public policy.  Guided by eight core principles, JDAI has established outstanding public safety outcomes, reduce racial and ethnic disparities, minimized detention over-crowding and the need to build more expensive facilities creating savings for taxpayers, improved efficiencies in the juvenile justice system operations, and produced better outcomes for youth and their families.

Through JDAI, ICJI is currently working with a number of counties to reduce racial and ethnic disparities and DMC in their communities. New and old JDAI sites have received or are currently receiving funds to support local JDAI/DMC Coordinator positions and other initiatives related to JDAI and DMC. A number of counties are also working with the W. Haywood Burns Institute, an organization that provides jurisdictions with guidance and technical assistance as they work to reduce racial equity in their juvenile justice systems. Each JDAI sites has establish or are in the process of establishing a Racial and Ethnic/DMC subcommittee that will be charged with guiding the work in their respective jurisdiction. There is also a statewide RED/DMC subcommittee that is tasked with addressing cross-cutting DMC issues that arise from the county, as well as ensuring that the state maintains compliance with the JJDP Act. For additional information about Indiana’s JDAI journey, please visit http://www.youthlawteam.org/compliance.html.

Indiana’s DMC Coordinator

Indiana currently has a full time DMC Coordinator who tasked with coordinating Indiana’s DMC reduction efforts. For additional information about DMC and DMC activities in Indiana, please contact:

Tashi Teuschler, MPA 
Indiana Criminal Justice Institute
101 W Washington Street, Suite 1170
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Office: (317) 243-4476
Fax: (317) 232-4979
tteuschler@cji.in.gov

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