DMC Reduction Initiative

The OJJDP FY 09 Earmarks Programs further the Department's mission by providing grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance authorized by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, to organizations identified in the Explanatory Statement Regarding H.R. 1105 (Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009), 155 Cong. Rec. H1653 (daily ed. Feb. 23, 2009) (statement by Rep. Obey, Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations of the House).

The Wisconsin effort to address disproportionate minority contact (DMC) is based on a series of projects funded through a competitive grant process. It seeks to reduce the racial disparities identified at critical points in the juvenile justice continuum through efforts determined by local advisory boards that, using the Relative Rate Index (RRI) figures for their respective jurisdictions, have chosen the foci of their efforts. Those efforts are to be directed towards systems changes whose results are regularly reported to the DMC coordinator and the Governor's Juvenile Justice Commission (the state advisory group). In addition to the reductions that will be noted through changes in the RRI data, system improvements will also be measured through changes in the actual numbers of youth involved at the contact points of the projects and technical assistance and education provided to local units of government and key local stakeholders. The population served will be those juveniles who, as a result of contact with law enforcement, juvenile courts, and court-service personnel, are subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile justice system. NCA/NCF