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Fact Sheet:
Reducing
Inequality in Juvenile Justice
Latino and Latina youth
are significantly over-represented in the U.S. justice system and
receive harsher treatment than White youth, even when charged with the
same types of offenses. In every offense category, the average length of
stay in detention is longer for Latino youth than for any other racial
or ethnic group. (¿Dónde Está la Justicia?. Prepared for the Building
Blocks for Youth initiative by Francisco Villaruel and Nancy Walker,
July 2000.) Racial and ethnic disparities increase at every stage of the
juvenile justice process. Detention is the door into the juvenile
justice system, so if disparities in detention could be reduced,
subsequent disparities should also decline. Eliminating disparities
makes our juvenile justice system more fair and effective.
We can reduce Latinos’ disparity in
juvenile justice. How to do it:
- Build a coalition. Effective
coalitions include community-based organizations, as well as local
government officials and the leaders of agencies like the
probation office. Most importantly, in other communities, only
those coalitions that included the police were successful, because
working with the police to get information and change systems is a
fundamental part of reform.
- Set goals. Success is more likely
to be achieved when goals seek both to reduce the overall use of
detention and to reduce racial disparities. Do not make goals too
broad - define the problems in terms that can be changed. Results
should emphasize action, not only discussion or training.
- Get research. Record where and how
decisions are made in the juvenile justice system. If data is not
available by race and ethnicity, create a research agenda.
Research-collection can also highlight problems like barriers to
family involvement or bias in probation criteria.
Realize that your goals are achievable.
You can reduce disparities - it’s been done by communities
across the country. By using a model that’s been successful in other
towns and cities, you can create a more just system in your community.
Reducing disparity has worked in
other communities…
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- Cook County, Illinois: The
number of minority youth in
detention dropped 31% between 1996 and 2000.
- Santa Cruz, California:
Between 1997 and 1999, Latino youth in juvenile detention
declined by 22%.
- Multnomah County, Oregon: In
2000, only 12% of African-Americans, and 11% of Latinos with
court referrals were detained, and the average daily
population in secure custody dropped from 92 in 1993 to 33
in 2000.
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