As part of the JJDP Act of 2002, Congress required that States participating in the Formula Grants Program “address juvenile delinquency prevention efforts and system improvement efforts designed to reduce, without establishing or requiring numerical standards or quotas, the disproportionate number of juvenile members of minority groups, who come into contact with the juvenile justice system” (see section 223(a)(22)). The Act also expanded the scope of the DMC initiative from disproportionate minority "confinement" to disproportionate minority "contact" by requiring an examination of possible disproportionate representation of minority youth at multiple decision points within the juvenile justice system.

The shift from “confinement” to “contact” required a change in how disproportionality is measured. In response, OJJDP developed the DMC Relative Rate Index (RRI) Matrix. Beginning in 2004, States were required to submit DMC Relative Rate Indices as part of their comprehensive JJDP 3-year plan.

To provide a better understanding of the RRI, along with an assessment of racial disparity and disparity trends at the national level, NCJFCJ's research division, the National Center for Juvenile Justice, developed the National Disproportionate Minority Contact Databook as a component of OJJDP’s Statistical Briefing Book.

This Web-based tool:

• Explains the use of the RRI, shows the national RRIs for the years 1990 to 2004, and provides a written interpretation of racial disparity trends for key decision points within the juvenile justice system;
• Helps States and local jurisdictions properly construct and interpret their local information;
• Discusses the benefits of using the RRI Matrix to investigate disproportionate minority contact within a jurisdiction and provides guidance on how to prepare the RRI Matrix using available information and the compromises sometimes needed.

Useful links:
National Disproportionate Minority Contact Databook
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
National Center for Juvenile Justice