Developing Solutions to Minority Overrepresentation

Each of the pilot States undertook a series of activities to assess and begin to develop responses to their respective DMC circumstances. These activities, which varied somewhat from one State to another, generally reflected the following problem-solving process:

  • Assigning organizational responsibility for the DMC initiative.

  • Analyzing juvenile justice data to identify the extent to which minority juveniles are overrepresented in State and local juvenile justice systems.

  • Identifying the underlying factors that contribute to minority overrepresentation.

  • Creating new and enhancing existing DMC interventions.

  • Developing methods to measure the impact of DMC interventions.

These five steps, with examples of the pilot States’ experiences and the lessons learned, are summarized in table 1 and described below.

Table 1: Overview of the Five Pilot States� DMC Process and Lessons Learned
DMC Process        Lessons Learned
Assigning organizational responsibility.
  • Determine the optimal lead organization.
  • Appoint a coordinator.
  • Allocate adequate resources.
Analyzing juvenile justice data.
  • Acquire accurate quantitative data.
  • Conduct systematic data analyses.
  • Interpret data within the local social and political context.
  • Engage stakeholders in the process.
Identifying underlying factors.
  • Gather information on contributing factors.
  • Synthesize contributing factors.
  • Build consensus about contributing factors.
Creating and enhancing interventions.
  • Clearly specify the role for State organizations.
  • Focus on local planning and implementation.
  • Involve all stakeholders.
  • Develop multiple intervention strategies.
  • Anticipate the transition from planning to implementation.
Developing methods to measure the interventions� impact.
  • Design monitoring systems at the local level.
  • Select an appropriate monitoring organization.
  • Capture overall results and impacts.

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