What is Disproportionate Minority Confinement (DMC)? Under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), disproportionate minority confinement (DMC) exists when the proportion of youths detained or confined in secure detention facilities, secure correctional facilities, jails and lockups who are members of minority groups exceed their groups' proportions in the general population.

How widespread is DMC? In virtually every state, at every stage of the juvenile justice system, minority youth are overrepresented and receive disparate treatment, particularly in secure confinement. Thus, although African American youth ages 10-17 constitute 15% of their age group in the U.S. population, they account for 26% of juvenile arrests, 32% of delinquency referrals to juvenile court, 41% of youths detained in delinquency cases, 46% of youths in correction institutions, and 52% of youths transferred to adult criminal court after judicial hearings. In addition, African-American males are six times more likely to be admitted to state juvenile facilities for crimes against persons than their white counterparts, and 30 times more likely to be detained for drug offenses than white males. In California, one study showed that African American and Latino youth consistently received more severe punishments than white youth for the same offenses.

Unfortunately, research in this area specific to Latino youth is scant. Many state and national studies place Latino youth in inconsistent categories. Thus, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) 1996 national report on juvenile offenders and victims, reflecting data collected by the states, includes Latino youth as "white" when counting violent crime and transfers to adult court, then lists them as "minority" in its confinement statistics. As a result, data on the extent to which Latino youth are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system are incomplete and more is needed.

What must states do to comply with the DMC mandate? Current law directs states to identify the extent to which disproportionate minority confinement exists, to assess the reason that it exists and to develop intervention strategies to address the causes for disproportionate minority confinement. The law does not require, and has never resulted in, the release of any youths from custody based on race, nor has it required numerical quotas for arrests. No state's funding under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act has ever been reduced as a result of noncompliance with this provision.

What actions are states currently taking? As a result of the current law requirement, in addition to gathering this important data, 40 states are implementing or developing intervention plans to address DMC. States are undertaking efforts such as:

• Examining decisionmaking policies and practices of police, prosecutors, courts and probation, to identify where racial disparities occur in the system

• Increasing cultural diversity of program staff

• Providing support training for juvenile justice system personnel

• Developing guidelines such as detention criteria, which reduce or eliminate racial disparities

• Developing, supporting and expanding delinquency prevention programs

• Increasing the availability and improving the quality of diversion programs

• Developing community-based alternatives to secure detention and incarceration

• Reviewing and revising existing juvenile justice system policies and procedures

Should the DMC mandate be retained? If Congress removes the current law's DMC mandate, public attention to the widespread disparity in treatment would be significantly minimized and efforts currently underway in the states to collect this data and remedy the disparate treatment of minority youth would be seriously undermined. States are unlikely to continue to address the problem in the absence of the DMC language in current law. Congress should retain the requirement to address the disproportionate confinement of minority youth under the JJDPA.

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