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Contact Information

Phone: (919)733-4564
Fax: (919)733-4625

Anne Mayher
(Community Development)

Priority C

Services to address Disproportionate Minority Contact 

(DMC) in the Juvenile Justice System

Research:

Research suggests that one contributing factor to the DMC issue may be differential processing of juvenile offenders and various stages within the juvenile justice system (US Department of Justice, 1999).

• One issue that should be addressed when focusing disproportionate minority confinement is whether or not there is a difference in the dispositions for minority and non-minority juveniles. Another question to ask is whether there is a difference in the services made available to minority and non-minority juveniles and their families.

• A very small number of African-American students progressed to higher achievement levels in Math and Reading in the 1999-2000 school year. Nearly forty percent of African-American students fell to a lower achievement level as opposed to approximately twenty percent of white students falling to a lower level (NC State Board of Education, 2001).

• Between the years of 2000-2001, the average percentage of minorities confined in training schools was over 67%. The percentage of whites who were confined was almost 33% (DJJDP, 2002, Calendar Year and Fiscal Year YDC Race Trends).

Black and multi-racial students accounted for the highest percentage of students in Long Term Suspension between the years 1998, 1999, and 2000 (NC State Board of Education, 2001).