Getting Beyond Failure: Promising Approaches for Reducing DMC

Abstract

States that wish to receive federal financial support through the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act for their juvenile justice systems are mandated to address disproportionate minority contact (DMC). A vast number of studies now exist that try to explain the presence, cause, and severity of DMC in states and local jurisdictions, but most work does not move past this point. A newer set of works explores reasons why DMC-reduction efforts fail. In recent years, generous investments from private foundations have led to a renewed sense of hope for success in the seemingly intractable problem of minority overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system. This article presents promising approaches that have resulted from these investments and suggests steps that should be taken from here.