Reducing Racial Disparities in Local Jurisdictions

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Reducing Racial Disparities in Local
Jurisdictions
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DEAD HORSE
Native American Wisdom When you discover you
are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to
dismount. Bureaucratic Wisdom The Horse Is
DeadSo Lets--- --BUY A STRONGER WHIP --CHANGE
RIDERS --Say THIS IS THE WAY WE HAVE
ALWAYS RIDDEN THIS HORSE. --APPOINT A
COMMITTEE TO STUDY THE HORSE. --DECLARE
NO HORSE IS TOO DEAD TO BEAT.
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A Couple of Terms . . .

• Disproportionate Minority Confinement (DMC) A
  racial/ethnic groups representation in
  confinement exceeds their representation in the
  general population
• Disparity Different treatment of individuals who
  are similarly situated or who have common
  characteristics

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BI Philosophy

• Detention facilities are harmful
• System stakeholders Community new
  opportunities to develop sustainable alternatives
  to incarceration
• Need System Maturity

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Beyond Mere Talk
The work to achieve tangible DMC reduction
results will not succeed unless its champions
are

• Intentional
• Unapologetic

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Process Truths
Process is not NOT SEAMLESS

• Agency mandates and agendas are inconsistent
• Leadership Changes
• Public Will Changes

Process is not NOT QUICK

• Values must be learned and embraced over time
• Cultural shifts do not manifest immediately

W. Hayward Burns Institute DMC Training
Institute 2006
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DMC Work Truths
Kick-Start by a roll of the.
DICE
ata-driven ntentional onsensus-Based ngagement
Focus
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DATA-DRIVEN

• Avoid becoming attached to early DMC assumptions
  or prematurely drawing conclusions
• Let the numbers tell the story
• Because if you dont . . .

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The Global Discussion

• DMC is caused by
• Racism
• Poverty
• Levels of Criminality

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The Blame Game . . .

• Its the fault of the kids, the families, the
  community, the parents, society
• at large, music videos, television, the police,
  judges, the mayor, the governor, the President,
  racism, subtle discrimination, overt
  discrimination, the system, drugs, guns, poor
  education, inadequate housing, the schools, the
  kids, the families, the community . . .

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Being Intentional

• Always apply the race lens
• Identify who will do the leg work
• Look for opportunities for new/expanded
  programs that can impact the DMC population

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What Are You Trying to Do?

• Raise Awareness
• Data Collection
• Change Policies
• Actual Reduction
• Change Attitudes

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The Approach to Reducing Disproportionality

• Demographic Analysis
• Crimes By Race/Location/Time
• Community Profile
• Detention Process
• Case Processing Issues
• Objective Decision-Making

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What This Process Is

• Strategic
• Cooperative
• Voluntary
• Data Driven
• Opportunities for Intervention

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Who is at the Table?

• Community Groups/Youth
• Judges
• Politicians
• Law Enforcement
• Advocates
• Detention and Probation

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Consensus-Building

• Process of building agreement never ends
• Dont let politeness masquerade as consensus
• Dont jump into strategy before assessing and
  unifying will

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Data Gathering and Community Profile

• Detention Data Disaggregated by
• Race/Offense/Time/Location
• Community Profile
• Quantitative
• Qualitative

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Community Profile

• What is this? And Why Do It?
• A) Quantitative
• Physical mapping of target
• Identify community resources/programs for youth
  in target area
• B) Qualitative
• Focus Groups, Interviews, Surveys

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Why Community Engagement?

• Protection
• Accountability
• Urgency
• Insight

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The Louisville Experience
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Secure Detention Data Findings (2004)
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This chart represents the total number of
charges, not the number of juveniles.
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Reason the bench warrant was issued

• 44 of the 68 warrants were issued for a Failure
  to Appear at a court hearing

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Detention Criteria/Detained or Released

• 58 of the 68 warrants, did not meet detention
  criteria on the original charges.

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LouisvilleIdentified Strategies to Reduce DMC

• Developed subcommittees to take an in-depth look
  at the current policies and procedures regarding
  juvenile bench warrants, and to develop
  recommendations to enhance the current process.
• Juvenile Bench Warrant Subcommittee Reviewed
  policies and procedures used for
• court notification
• issuing warrants
• executing warrants
• application of detention criteria

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Enhance the Current Notification Process
Continued

• Strategies to implement the recommendation
• Implemented - The CDW office will verify mailing
  addresses for any notices returned through the
  mail for a bad address, including contacting JCPS
  and notifying the juvenile court clerk (if the
  case is going to juvenile court).
• Implemented - Request contact information from
  Jefferson County Public Schools.
• Pending - Establish a process where the system
  makes contact with youth to remind and/or notify
  youth and parents/guardians of scheduled court
  dates.
• Pending - Develop a Contact Sheet Form for all
  youth to complete while in Juvenile Court. The
  form shall be placed in the court file, so that
  the latest contact information is available for
  notification purposes.

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Key Lessons Learned