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Unintended Consequences: The Impact of Zero Tolerance and Other Exclusionary Policies on Kentucky Students
This report from Building Blocks for Youth was designed to answer three questions:
What is the scope of the juvenile crime problem in Kentucky’s public schools?
How have the schools reacted?
Have any groups been disproportionately affected by school discipline policies?
The report presents four major findings: Violent juvenile crime is not a serious problem in Kentucky’s public schools, and the overwhelming majority of referrals from schools to juvenile courts are for status offenses. School officials in Kentucky use out-of-school suspension excessively. School officials refer inappropriate matters to the courts and the referrals are beginning to overwhelm Kentucky’s juvenile and family courts. Kentucky’s African-American youth are suspended from many schools at rates far higher than the suspension rates for Kentucky ’s white students,
, and the
There are a number of downloadable resources about this report at the BBFY website:
Fact sheet on Zero Tolerance
Full report and press release
Resources to address Zero Tolerance policies
List of key studies on Zero Tolerance ++++++++++
From the Children's Bureau Express: Disproportionality in Juvenile Justice System May Have Roots in Child Welfare - 17 States have now implemented programs to help youth in foster care earn college degrees.
Improving Higher Education Opportunities for Foster Youth - Research suggests that cultural and racial bias in child welfare decision-making may compound the problem long before children reach the justice system.
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Donde Esta la Justicia? (Where is the Justice?)
Building Blocks for Youth has just published “the most comprehensive report ever released about Latino and Latina youth in the U. S. system.” Latino and Latina youth receive disparate and more punitive treatment than White youth. The report says that available data actually under count the disparities because most states and the federal government fail to adequately identify Latino youth in data collection. These are some of the key findings from the report: The system does not provide uniform definitions for the terms Latino and Hispanic. The system fails to separate ethnicity from race.: The system fails to provide adequate bilingual services to Latino and Latina youth. Consideration of the immigration status of Latino and Latina youth results in incarceration, deportation, and permanent separation from families.
The report recommends that public officials, policymakers, and the justice system should: Eliminate racial profiling and other policies based explicitly or implicitly on facial or ethnic stereotypes Collect data in a way that accurately counts Latino youth by separating them from White, African-American, and other youth. Employ bilingual and culturally competent staff to ensure better services to the Latino community.
Eliminate racial profiling and other policies based explicitly or implicitly on facial or ethnic stereotypesLatino communities, youth and families should: Get organized at a local level to make the justice system accountable to Latino communities and youth. Call for the active inclusion of youth voices in policy development and implementation. Form Latino advisory groups to guide policymaking and implementation in the law enforcement and justice system.
Get organized at a local level to make the justice system accountable to Latino communities and youth.Read about the report
Read the Executive Summary ++++++++++ Action Packet for Donde Esta la Justicia?
Building Blocks for Youth has released an Action Packet to accompany its new report on Latino/Latina youth featured last week in Brevity. The packet includes information on how to take action, action steps for community outreach, direct action, and how to contact the media. The Action Packet advocates the following:
Address the disparity and over-representation of Latino and Latina youth in the Justice System. Collect accurate and separate data on Latino and Latina youth in the Justice System. Transfer youth out of INS detention facilities and create appropriate INS detention policies. Ignore immigration state of Latino and Latina youth in detention decisions. Offer bilingual services to Latino and Latina youth in the system.
Good fact sheets on Latino and Latina youth in the Justice System and resource lists too ++++++++++ BIG Progress on DMC (Disproportionate Minority Confinement) in Portland, Oregon
The Justice Policy Institute has just released a new study of data from Multnomah County (Portland, Ore.) which indicate that Portland has not only reduced racial disparity in juvenile detention, but has also lowered juvenile crime.
JPI analysis of data from Multnomah County found that in 1994, minority youth in Multnomah County were 31% more likely to be detained than white youth when they were referred to the Department of Community Justice. By 2000, minority and white youth experienced identical detention rates. For the past six years Multnomah County has been involved in the juvenile detention alternatives initiative (JDAI) of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Multnomah Model will be discussed at a national conference of juvenile justice experts being convened by the Casey Foundation in Portland January 25 through 27.
Read the Press Release (three pages)
Read the Report (12 pages)
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I run into the most interesting things while I’m looking for something else. That’s how I found this page. Building Blocks for Youth includes, at its web site, a state by state report on the status of disproportionate minority confinement of youth of color in each state in the country. Will give you basic state juvenile justice information, state research and reports, fact sheets, juvenile justice contacts, and state news. ++++++++++ Disproportionate Minority Confinement - This site has information, resources, publications, information, and people you can talk to. Includes state-specific DMC research reports, the DMC technical assistance manual, and information about the OJJDP DMC Working Group. ++++++++++ Addressing Disproportionate Minority Representation Within the Juvenile Justice System
Building Blocks for Youth makes this report from the Probation Department in Santa Cruz, California available for downloading on the internet. It highlights the successful work of probation in reducing over representation of youth of color in the juvenile justice system. From the report: Building Blocks for Youth makes this report from the Probation Department in Santa Cruz, California available for downloading on the internet. It . From the report:The Latino population in Santa Cruz County’s general population is 33%. The Latino population in Juvenile hall in 1997 and 1998 was 64%. In 1999 that population dropped to 53%. In the first half of 2000, the percentage dropped again to 46%.
At the same site see State-by-state Information on over representation and disparate treatment of youth of color in the juvenile justice system, basic state juvenile justice information, state research and reports, fact sheets, juvenile justice contacts, and state news.
For more information on the report email Judith A. Cox, Assistant Chief Probation Officer, Santa Cruz County Probation.
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Racial Disparity in Illinois Drug Prosecutions: 99% of Cook County Youth Tried As Adults Are African-American or Latino
A report released mid-week by Building Blocks for Youth describes a study of Illinois automatic transfer laws which have produced one of the most racially disparate outcomes in the country. Transfer statutes in Illinois mandate that 15- and 16-year-old youth charged with a drug offense that occurs within 1,000 feet of a school or public housing project are automatically excluded from juvenile court. As a result, of the 393 youth automatically transferred to adult court in Cook County during 1999-2000, over 99% were African American or Latino. Other significant report findings: Between 1986 and 1996, the number of White youth entering Illinois prisons increased by half while the number of African American youth entering prison more than doubled. Over half of the juvenile drug transfer cases had never received juvenile court services before and over one third (34% ) had no previous juvenile court convictions.
A National Context: The 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reports that White youth ages 12-17 are more than a third more likely to have sold drugs than African-American youth. The national Institute of Drug Abuse survey of high school seniors for 1998/1999 shows that White students use cocaine at 7 to 8 times the rate of African American students, and heroin at 7 times the rate of African American students. For more details about Drugs and Disparity: The Racial Impact of Illinois' Practice of Transferring Young Drug Offenders to Adult Court
Building Blocks for Youth Site Fact Sheet Press Release
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