What Is Meant by “Disproportionate Minority Confinement”?

Disproportionate minority confinement is defined in the JJDP Act as existing when “the proportion of juveniles detained or confined in secure detention facilities, secure correctional facilities, jails, and lockups who are members of minority groups . . . exceeds the proportion such groups represent in the general population.”¹ While the language of the JJDP Act specifically refers to juveniles who are “detained or confined,” minority overrepresentation is often a product of actions that occur at earlier points in the juvenile justice system, well before secure placements. A growing body of literature has focused on the problem of selection bias² in juvenile justice systems. Much of this literature suggests that processing decisions in many State and local juvenile justice systems are not racially or culturally neutral. Minority juveniles are more likely than other juveniles to become involved in the system. This overrepresentation is apparent at various decision points in the juvenile justice system (arrest, detention, prosecution, and so forth) and may intensify as juveniles continue through the system (see, for example, Pope and Feyerherm, 1990, 1993).

The intent of the JJDP Act DMC requirement and its implementing regulation (28 C.F.R. Part 31) is to encourage States to address the role that minority status (defined in the regulation at 28 C.F.R. § 31.304 as African-American, American Indian, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Hispanic) plays in juvenile justice processes, up to and including secure confinement, in a comprehensive manner. According to the research by Pope, Feyerherm, and others, multiple factors may contribute to disproportionate minority confinement, ranging from systemic racial bias to higher minority juvenile offense rates. Central to OJJDP’s initiative, therefore, was the need to assess and address the full range of factors that could contribute to overrepresentation. The need for locally developed DMC solutions provided the context for the OJJDP pilot initiative.

Disproportionate Minority Confinement: Lessons Learned From Five States	OJJDP Bulletin • December 1998