Disproportionate Minority Contact

NCCD provides technical assistance to local and state governments that wish to address Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) in their juvenile justice jurisdictions. Nationally, minority juveniles make up an increasingly large segment of all juveniles processed and incarcerated in the juvenile justice system. The causes of disproportion are complex. A superficial argument is that the numbers simply reflect the patterns of offending among racial groups. However, we know that social, economic, and environmental factors affect the rates at which different ethnic groups come to the attention of law enforcement agencies. We also know that the disproportion becomes more extreme as youth move deeper into the system; disproportion is already significant at the arrest stage, but is even more out of balance among youth placed in residential detention and state adult prison.

Using a data-driven planning process, NCCD works with jurisdictions to identify the extent of disproportionality, the stages at which the overrepresentation occurs, and research-based best practices and promising approaches for addressing the issue.

The State of California Correctional Standards Authority recently awarded NCCD a 12-month contract to provide technical assistance to three California counties to address DMC in their juvenile justice systems. Alameda, Contra Costa, and Ventura Counties were selected.

NCCD will examine DMC issues in these counties using a data-driven, community planning approach in three phases. First, we will mobilize the key stakeholders in each county, then assess the current DMC status in each county, and finally, lead a process of community planning to improve DMC.