JJIE Hub: Resources — Racial & Ethnic Fairness

• For an overview of the issue, and guidance on how to identify and address disparities to move toward racial-ethnic fairness, see the Disproportionate Minority Contact Technical Assistance Manual (4th Edition), published online by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
• See these publications by the Burns Institute – “Adoration of the Question,” on the historical antecedents that continue to influence the juvenile justice system and the perceived causes of racial and ethnic inequity in the system, and “The Keeper and the Kept,” on the overreliance on detention and an introduction to the Burns Institute method.

• OJJDP’s Statistical Briefing Book has interactive tools with data on youth arrests and residential placements – which can be viewed by race and ethnicity. Additional information on court statistics may be gleaned here. Bear in mind that federal data does not categorize youth by ethnicity, so Hispanic youth are often counted as “White,” thus inflating the rate of system involvement among White youth and underestimating the level of disparity when youth of color are compared to White youth.
• To compare data state-by-state (or even at the county level), check out this powerful interactive online tool from the Burns Institute on racial disparities in juvenile justice systems across the country. Customize data, download it, review local detention statutes and reform efforts.
• “Black Teens Who Commit a Few Crimes Go to Jail as Often as White Teens Who Commit Dozens,” from The Washington Post, describes the stark differences in how black and white teenagers are treated by the juvenile justice system, with black youth more likely to be placed in a correctional facility even though there are negligible differences between racial groups in the frequency of committing offenses.
• “Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2014 National Report,” by the National Center for Juvenile Justice, provides a rich source of data to analyze the scope of this problem including data on the current racial and ethnic youth demographics in this country, estimates on future demographics, data on self-reports of youth offending, and data on racial variations and disparities at many points of the juvenile justice system.
• For additional analysis on specific subpopulations, see the following:
  • • For African-American, Asian/Pacific Islanders, Native American and White youth, see this 2009 publication.
    • For more detailed information on Latino/Hispanic youth, see this 2009 publication.
    • For specific information on Native American / Alaska Native youth, go here and here.
• BLACK DISPARITIES IN YOUTH INCARCERATION - this Fact Sheet by The Sentencing Project shines a light on the worsening disparities in the rate of incarceration of black youth.

• For deficiencies in federal data collection policies, see this brief analysis.
• This presentation succinctly describes the problems with collection of data on Latino children.

• For a succinct discussion of the barriers to racial and ethnic equity in the juvenile justice system, see this fact sheet; go here for a discussion of the scope and causes of racial and ethnic disparities, and pathways to reducing racial disparities in juvenile detention.
• Go here for an explanation of racial and ethnic disproportionality written for legislators.
• For an in-depth discussion of the roots of racialized outcomes in the juvenile justice system this recent article in the Cornell Law Review.
• Want to learn more about “self-report and victimization data”? See what the National Research Council says about it in Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach.^[1]
• See this article in Salon.com for information on a new study which found that college students and police view black children aged ten and older as significantly less innocent than white children of the same age. For the full study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, go here.
• Interested in learning more about the relationship between law enforcement and youth of color and what can be done to help change the relationship? Have a look at this NJJN report Creating Meaningful Change in the Relationship Between Law Enforcement and Youth of Color.^[1a]

• The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) continues to monitor state efforts to comply with the requirement of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) that requires them to address racial and ethnic disparities.
• For an overview of the issue, and guidance on how to identify and address disparities, see the Disproportionate Minority Contact Technical Assistance Manual (4th Edition), from OJJDP.
• OJJDP sponsored the creation of this curriculum to increase the effectiveness of police and other juvenile justice personnel who work with youth of color, and improve policies governing the way they treat such youth.^[2]

• See this paper for an analysis of some of the obstacles that have made it difficult for many states to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system.^[3]
• This publication discusses barriers to achieving meaningful and measurable reductions in racial and ethnic disparities, identified by the states themselves.

• Chapter 7 of the Disproportionate Minority Contact Technical Assistance Manual (4th Edition), describes lessons learned from a two-year project in Washoe County, Nevada, and Travis County, Texas designed to develop new and accurate data collection methods for Hispanic youth and to reduce racial and ethnic disparities for Hispanic and other youth at key decision points.
• This toolkit provides users with a number of guidelines, tips, and tools for reducing racial and ethnic disparities, including data collection information and tools.
• These guidelines provide in-depth information on collecting and recording racial and ethnic data of youth in the juvenile justice system.
• This fact sheet describes the data collection reporting templates used by the Models for Change DMC Action Network sites.

• See this publication for information on cultural adaptations to evidence-based practices.
• See this toolkit from Models for Change for applying the “Cultural Enhancement Model” to evidence-based practices.
• To understand federal requirements for state courts in serving Limited English Proficient (LEP) youth and family members, see these guidelines.
• These Standards for Language Access in Courts from the American Bar Association are an important tool to assist courts and policymakers in creating systems for language access that will make courts more fair and accessible to all.
• The International Association of Chiefs of Police issued recommendations that its members developed during a two-day national summit on Law Enforcement’s Leadership Role in Juvenile Justice Reform that included increased training for officers on the ways youth differ from adults and from one another depending on their cultural background.

• Connect with Justice for Families, a national alliance founded and run by parents and families who have experienced the juvenile justice system with their children.
• See this newsletter for information on a Wisconsin-based family engagement program for youth in the juvenile justice system that teaches youth and families communication skills and behavior management.

For more information on family engagement resources click here.

• For a better understanding of risk assessment tools in juvenile probation and probation intake, see this guidebook from Models for Change.
• For a thorough understanding of risk assessment instruments in juvenile detention, see “Juvenile Detention Risk Assessment: a Practice Guide to Juvenile Detention Reform.”
• For more information about reducing discipline disparities for k-12 black students, boys, and students with disabilities, see this report from the United States Government Accountability Office.
• For more guidance for judges on how to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in Juvenile Court and in child welfare/removal proceedings, see this bench card from the National Juvenile Defender Center.

• See this publication for information on how Pennsylvania has been able to reduce the number of youth in secure detention through the use of more community-based alternatives.
• Two examples where creating an evening reporting center reduced the use of secure detention for youth of color:  Ventura County, California, and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
• See this article on Rock County, Wisconsin’s success in reducing secure detention for youth of color through increasing community-based alternative options and adopting a system of graduated responses for probation violations.

For more resources for diversion and community-based alternatives click here.

• The Burns Institute’s Community Justice Network for Youth (CJNY) seeks to promote the availability of effective and culturally-appropriate interventions for youth of color and poor communities. You can follow CJNY on Twitter.
• For a thorough discussion on how to prepare the local community to undertake a program of reducing racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system, see Chapter 3 of the Disproportionate Minority Contact Technical Assistance Manual (4th Edition).
• Specific examples may be found in this publication, which discusses ways to work with the Native Hawaiian community on justice issues, and this article, which describes how Lancaster County, Pennsylvania engaged its faith community to work on decreasing racial and ethnic disproportionality in the juvenile courts.

• See this article for information on how racial impact statements can be used by legislatures to address disparities.
• See this 2013 newspaper article discussing whether more states should require racial impact statements.

• See these recommendations on reauthorizing the JJDPA and strengthening its requirements on addressing racial and ethnic disparities from the National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition (NJJDPC),^[4] from the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, and from the National Council of La Raza.

• This publication analyzes the relationship between school discipline, academic performance and juvenile justice involvement.
• See this recent publication on zero tolerance in schools and the disparate impact on youth of color.
• For juvenile justice advocates, here’s a policy platform on safe and effective school discipline policies. For a full compendium of school discipline state laws and regulations, click here.
• The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education released this federal guidance package, including this guidance letter to public schools, on January 8, 2014, to address the problem of racial and ethnic discriminatory practices in elementary and secondary education. Below are links to some of the resources in this package:
  • • Guiding Principles: A Resource Guide for Improving School Climate and Discipline
    • Appendix 1: Directory of Federal School Climate and Discipline Resources
    • Appendix 2: Compendium of School Discipline Laws and Regulations for the Fifty States, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico
    • For more information, see the Children’s Defense Fund’s Cradle to Prison Pipeline campaign.
    • The Advancement Project has developed this sample memorandum of understanding between a school district and a police department to reduce school-based arrests.

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• For a comprehensive overview of state transfer laws and practices, see this publication from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
• See this publication from the Campaign for Youth Justice on recent legislation passed to reduce the transfer of youth in adult court from 2015-2017.
• For detailed information on racial and ethnic disparities in the transfer of youth to adult court, see this publication and this law review article.
• This report by the U.S. Dept. of Justice looks at the number of juvenile delinquency cases judicially waived to criminal court between the years of 1985-2011. The report analyzes waiver trends by year, gender, age, and ethnicity.
• This on-line resource from the Campaign for Youth Justice - “Collateral Consequences,” provides information on the impact of transfer on individuals, families, and communities, policy recommendations, youths’ stories, infographics, and additional resources.

For more information on the disproportionate representation and differential treatment of  groups that are often overlooked – such as girls and who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or questioning (LGBTQ) – see this new blog post by the Status Offense Reform Center and accompanying resources.