Jennifer Peck
Associate Professor, University Of Central Florida
Key Findings
- Peck offers discussion topics to highlight the importance of the Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Mandate, since its inception and execute its goal of creating an equitable juvenile justice system.
Description
In the discussion paper, “The Importance of Evaluation and Monitoring Within the Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Mandate: Future Directions in Juvenile Justice Research,” Peck examines the effectiveness of the 1988 Disproportionate Minority Confinement now known as the Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Mandate, a five-phase policy that aims to enforce equitable treatment for juveniles in the justice system regardless of their race or ethnicity. The phases include identifying DMC, assessing potential causes, implementing DMC prevention strategies, evaluating DMC prevention tactics, and continuously examining DMC trends and enforcing reduction strategies. Peck offers six discussion topics to highlight the importance of the DMC mandate since its inception:
- Analyze state progress individually to determine specific impacts of new risk assessment tools
- Reduce disparity in juvenile rehabilitation outcomes, in addition to sanctions, through DMC mandate guidelines
- Maintain risk and needs assessments across ethnic groups, to validly and reliably understand the prevalence of trauma and stress in juvenile offenders
- Address how other offense types are processed concerning DMC
- Evaluate the use of diversion opportunities in the juvenile justice system to determine racial or ethnic inequities in outcomes
- Leverage data and funding opportunities from the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) to support DMC initiatives
In conclusion, Peck notes the significant impact that the DMC mandate had on reducing racial and ethnic inequalities in the juvenile justice system and the continued need for innovative approaches to carry forward an equitable system into the future.