Disproportionate Minority Representation and Disparity

Issues for Discussion and ConsiderationCitizens Review Panel, Office of Children and Family Services, Interagency Group

October 18 – 19, 2007Gregory Owens, Presenter

Disparities Not Relegated to Single System

• Criminal justice• Health care• Mental health• Homelessness• Victims of violent crime• Welfare• Special education

DMC

A Juvenile Justice Perspective

History of the Issues

• 1988 – Amendments to the JJDP Act of 1974 authorize OJJDP to require states participating in the Formula Grants Program to address DMC in their state plans.

• 1992 – Amendments to the Act elevate DMC to a core protection, tying future funding levels to compliance.

• 2002 – JJDP Act broadens DMC initiative to encompass disproportionate minority contactat all decision points in the juvenile justice system.

Definitions

Disproportionate Minority Confinementoccurs when the proportion of minorities in confinement exceeds their proportion in the general population.Disproportionate Minority Contact encompasses disproportionality at all decision making pointsin the juvenile justice system.

Overrepresentation

• When a larger proportion of a particular group is present at various stages within the juvenile justice system (such as intake, detention, adjudication, and disposition) than would be expected based on their proportion in the general population

Disparity

• The probability of receiving a particular outcome differs for different groups.

• Disparity may lead to overrepresentation.

According to the Research…

• There is substantial evidence of widespread disparity on juvenile justice case processing

• Racial/ethnic differences occur at various decision points within the juvenile justice system

NYS Youth In Care - DRS4/2007 – 6/2007

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Reducing Disproportionality

–Demographic Analysis–Crimes By Race/Location–Detention–Case Processing

Successful Projects Are:

• Strategic• Cooperative• Voluntary• Data Driven• Opportunities for

Intervention

Successful Projects Are Not:

• Racial Profiling• Finger Pointing• A Research

Project• Mandatory

Decision Making - ProbationResearchers George S. Bridges & Sara

Steen conduct a study to try to determine why African American youth, with a similar delinquency history, received harsher sentencing recommendations than white youth. They studied 233 narrative reports by juvenile probation officers.

Bridges & Steen Research Findings

• JPOs are more likely to see the crimes of youth of color as caused by internal factors (e.G. Personal failure, inadequate moral character, personality)

• JPOs likely to see crimes by white youth as caused by “external forces”. (E.G. Poor home life, lack of appropriate role models, environment)

Bridges & Steen Cont’d

• JPO interpretations of subjective factors like a youth’s remorse or cooperativeness ultimately influenced the officers assessments that the delinquent behavior of the minority youth was the result of individual failings for which state intervention was the only recourse.

The Santa Cruz Plan

• 1. Administrative emphasis, support and leadership

• 2. Decision point mapping & data review• 3. Objective criteria for decision making• 4. Staff• 5. Elimination of barriers to family

involvement• 6. Develop alternatives to formal handling

& incarceration• 7. Develop a full continuum of treatment,

supervision & placement options

OJJDP/JJEC7 Steps to Develop & Evaluate Strategies to

Reduce DMC1. Define the Problem2. Implement Evidence-Based Programming3. Develop Program Logic Model4. Identify Measures5. Collect and Analyze Data6. Report Findings7. Reassess Program Logic

Overrepresentation of Children of Color

Challenges to the Child Welfare/Foster Care System

What Is Disproportionate Representation?

• Disproportionate representation means that when compared to their presence in the overall population, a given racial/ethnic group is over- or under- represented in the specific population of interest.

The Issues

“Children of color (African American/Black, Latino/Hispanic, and Native American/Indigenous American) are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system and frequently experience disparate and inequitable service provision.”

2003 CWLA statement: children of color in the child welfare system.

The Issues

“The overrepresentation of children of color in the child welfare & other social service systems (e.g. juvenile justice) is linked to social, class, and economic factors that must be addressed to ensure that the needs of all children are fairly and appropriately served.”

CWLA 2003.

National Incidence Study Findings

• National incidence study (NIS) found no significant racial differences in incidence of maltreatment.

• The average African American child is not at greater risk for abuse & neglect than the average Caucasian child.

• African American, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander children have a disproportionately higher rate of maltreatment investigationswhen compared to Whites.

NIS Continued

African American & American Indian/Alaska Native children are twice as likely as white children to be substantiated as abused or neglected when investigated.

NIS Continued

• For every 1,000 White children in the U.S., 5 were in foster care in September 2000.

• White children represented 61% of the total population under the age of 18.

• White children were 38% of the foster care population.

NIS Cont’d

• For every 1,000 African American/Black children in the U.S. Population, 21 were in foster care on September 30, 2000.

• African American/Black children were 15% of the population under the age of 18.

White Children in 2004

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African American 2004

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African American Children

White Children

In addition, African American/Black children experienced longer lengths of stay in care

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NIS Cont’d

• For every 1,000 Hispanic/Latino children in the U.S. Population, 7 were in foster care on September 30, 2000.

• Hispanic/Latino children were 17% of the population under the age of 18.

Hispanic/Latino Children Were 15% of the Foster Care Population.

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Hispanic Youth 2000

According to the GAO Report Summary

NY State’s Disproportionality Index for African American

children is 2.63.The National Average is 2.26.

According to the GAO Report Summary

NY State’s Disproportionality Index for Latino/Hispanic children is slightly higher than the national average.

According to the GAO Report SummaryNY State’s Disparity Index for African American children when compared to

White children is 7.11. More than double the state’s Disproportionality

Index.

NYS Youth In Care - LDSS4/2007 – 6/2007

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

Admissions In care6/30/07

Discharges

African AmericanHispanicWhiteOther/Unk

GAO References to Work in NY State

• Routine searches for parental kin help find permanency resources

• Federal requirement to diligently recruit minority families has had positive impact on moving African American children into permanent homes

• Alternative criminal history requirements help in placing African American children with families

A Systematic Examination of Minority Disproportionality

Why Does DMR Exist?

• Disproportionate need• Disproportionate

attention• Biased decision-

making• Fewer community

resources

What “Matters”• Race Matters• Culture Matters • Ethnicity Matters• Language Matters• History Matters• Poverty Matters• Local Context Matters• Families Matter• Organizational Capacity Matters

Where Can You Find Disproportionality?

Decision Making Steps

• Reporting• Investigations• Substantiation• Placement in foster

care• Exits from foster

care• Reentry• Community factors

Implications

• Training needed for decision makers at each point in the system

• Acknowledge existence of overrepresentation and commit to elimination of disparities

• Specialized recruitment efforts• MEPA/IEPA requirements• Commitment to cultural competence

What’s The Rush?

NYS Office of Children and Family ServicesSummary of Work

2002

•Approximately June 2002, Gregory Owens and Renee Bradley begin sharing information about this issue in foster care and in rehabilitative services. Both systems have similar characteristics related to the overrepresentation of children of color.

•December 2002, the executive deputy commissioner convened a group begin to discuss the issue. As a result of the meeting, Mr. Owens charged with convening a work group, consisting of representatives from throughout OCFS, to begin to look at this issue in both foster care/child welfare and rehabilitative services.

2003

•A work group was convened, and met throughout 2003 and 2004. A concept paper was developed and circulated for comment, and a work plan that involves all of the OCFS stakeholders was also developed and circulated.

•In August Greg Owens sent a memo to DRS administration on the Potential Impact Points for DMC on DRS with a copy of the proposed DRS work plan.

•The name of the work group is changed from DMC to DMR (Disproportionate Minority Representation) so that the discussion and work can include all agency stakeholders.

•October Greg Owens begins to discuss the need for an agency policy on DMR with the policy work group. He is invited to policy work group meetings for make presentations on the issue and advocate for a policy.

•November Greg Owens briefs DRS administration, on work group activities, plans and presents draft of proposed DRS work plan.

•December DDPS begins to develop their work plan and moves forward to begin to systematically look at the issue. Greg Owens is invited to speak with the DDPS bureau directors at their December meeting.

•The DMR work group has been discussing a teleconference to shareinformation about the work group and invite others to participate in the work. A date of March 30th 2004 is set and the SUNY Distance Learning staff begins to meet with members of the DMR work group to develop the teleconference.

2004

•February Greg Owens is asked to respond to the Draft ACA Policy on Racial Disparity on the Juvenile and Adult Detention and Corrections System. DRS administration sends a memo to Commissioner Johnson indicating that the proposed ACA policy is “completely consistent with our Disproportionate Minority Representation (DMR) efforts.”

•March Greg Owens briefs PIO, Executive Assistant to the Commissioner, and DRS administration on the teleconference. A decision is made to postpone the teleconference until the Commissioner and the executive staff are briefed, and DCJS is contacted and invited to participate in the teleconference with OCFS.

•Teleconference is cancelled. Executive Deputy Commissioner recommits to continue to work on this issue.

•In late 2004, and early 2005, Greg Owens makes presentations to Rochester and Buffalo Regional Leadership Teams on DMR issues. Rochester RLT decides to make this one of the teams projects, and wants to learn more.

2005

•March Greg Owens attends Black Administrators in Child Welfare conference in Arlington Virginia, attends DMR workshops by Dr. Robert Hill, DMR authority and Senior Researcher at Westat, Dennette Derezotes, Assistant Director for the Children and Family Research Center. School of Social Work, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and project director for the Race Matters Consortium; Ralph Bayard director of the Office of Diversity at Casey Family Programs; and Khatib Waheed, senior researcher for the Center for the Study of Social Policy, and a member of the Alliance on Racial Equity.

•April Greg Owens makes presentation on DMR issues to the NYS Juvenile Detention Association with Dr. Tom Harig of DCJS. Dr. Harig has been appointed to the DMC initiative for DCJS on a full time basis.

•April Greg Owens makes presentation to OCFS executive staff on DMR work.

2006

•September Greg Owens participates as panelist and presents workshop on DMR at The Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission on Minorities and the New York State Family Court Judges Association conference on The Disproportionate Number of Minority Youth in the Family and Criminal Court Systems.

•April –September OCFS work group meets to develop a 2 day symposium on DMR cross systems issues. National experts are invited to present. State agency leadership and staff are invited.

•September 2006, the symposium is cancelled by the Governors’ Office.

2007

•OCFS participates in cross agency DMC/R sessions hosted by DCJS.

•May Greg Owens presents DMR issues on a panel at the 19th AnnualMeeting of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness on the Courts.

•June Greg Owens presents workshop on DMR issues at National CASA Conference with Darlene Ward of OCA.

•October NYS CRP invites K. Waheed and S. Metzger to NY State to present information on DMR. Ms. Metzger & Mr. Waheed agree to stay to present to OCFS staff and a group of representatives from various state agencies.

•November OCFS partners with NYC ACS and Columbia University School of Social Work to host a DMC/R conference, featuring keynote speaker Dr. Robert Hill, and OCFS Commissioner Gladys Carrión.

Disproportionate Minority Representation (DMR) Resources

Please visit the following websites if you are interested in learning more about the issues related to disproportionality, overrepresentation and disparity. Please note that this is a partial list, but a good starting point for research, promising programs and state efforts.

Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center Justice Research and Statistics Association 7 Steps to Develop & Evaluate Strategies to Reduce Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) www.jrsa.org National Center for Juvenile Justice www.ncjj.org Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention DMC Initiative www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/dmc/index.html National Innovations to Reduce DMC OJJDP askjj@ncjrs.org The Sentencing Project www.sentencingproject.org Youth Law Center www.youthlawcenter.com The W. Haywood Burns Institute for Juvenile Fairness & Equity www.burnsinstitute.org Annie E. Casey Foundation Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative www.aecf.org Multnomah County Rick Jensen, Detention Reform Initiative Coordinator rick.k.jensen@co.multnomah.or.us Coalition for Juvenile Justice info@juvjustic.org Juvenile Law Center info@jlc.org