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Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Reduction

In the JJDP Act of 2002, Congress required that States participating in the Formula Grants Program “address 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."

The Center for Community Safety (CCS) was selected to participate in the Formula Grants Program to address DMC on an ongoing basis by moving through the following phases for Forsyth County in North Carolina:

Identification. To determine the extent to which DMC exists.

Assessment. To determine the reasons for DMC, if it exists.

Intervention. To develop and implement strategies to address these identified reasons.

Evaluation. To measure the effectiveness of the selected intervention strategies.

Monitoring. To track changes in DMC trends and to adjust intervention strategies as needed.

Resource Materials

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Disproportionate Minority Contact

Reducing "disproportionate minority contact" (DMC) with the juvenile justice system is a critical objective for Forysth County in North Carolina. The Center for Community Safety (CCS) is working to understand the nature of the problem through better data collection and analysis. Based on that data, we are working to identify appropriate interventions that include tools to promote objective decision-making, improved language and cultural competency, education and workforce development, and detention alternative and nontraditional services.

Disproportionate Minority Contact, CCS Final Report

Graduated Sanctions Guidelines

Through improved data and intentional and targeted interventions, The Center for Community Safety (CCS) is working to promote fair and unbiased juvenile justice systems that treat youth equally regardless of their race or ethnicity. To this end, CCS developed an innovative graduated sanctions grid for probation violations to ensure that the duration or severity of the consequences for minority youth are tailored to both the case plan and individual needs of the transgressor. This grid is being tested in Union County, North Carolina, as well as Anson, Richmond, and Stanly counties. Once testing is complete and revisions are made (as needed), these new sanctions will be expanded to other counties throughout North Carolina. In the first full month of using the grid, Union County's detention admissions were reduced by nearly 50%. This initial data tells us that the grid is working to reduce detention stays for violation of probation.

Graduated Sanctions Guidelines