Emerging Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) and Status Offenses
In 1988, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act required that states participating in the Act’s formula grant program develop and implement plans to address disproportionate minority confinement of juveniles in secure facilities, including jails and lockups. At that time, nearly 7 out of 10 youth in these facilities were minority youth, an overrepresentation of more than double their percentage in the general population.
A Blueprint for Using Data to Reduce Disparities/Disproportionalities in Human Services and Behavioral Health Care
Communities and states across the country are developing and implementing effective strategies to reduce D&D. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released its first-ever HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. An overarching priority in this plan is to assess the impact of federal investments, such as grants, on the reduction of disparities in communities across the country. A Blueprint for Using Data to Reduce Disparities/Disproportionalities in Human Services and Behavioral Health Care (Blueprint) will be a useful tool to address this Secretarial priority and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Disparity Impact Strategy.