RED Practice Manual: Beginning or Restarting Work to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities
Published Dec 3, 2018, Center for Children's Law and Policy
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Promoting racial and ethnic fairness in the juvenile justice system has been a central
goal of the Models for Change initiative. In 2007, Models for Change launched the DMC Action Network to create a community of public officials and advocates focused specifically on creating more equitable juvenile justice systems. Through the DMC Action Network, sites improved data collection and reporting, restructured decision making to reduce the opportunity for bias, and enhanced the cultural responsiveness of services for youth and families. More importantly, the Network helped proponents shift from a conversation about racial and ethnic fairness into a movement of
concrete actions.
The work of the DMC Action Network, led by the Center for Children’s Law and Policy, demonstrated that communities can implement reforms that have a measurable and positive impact on youth of color. However, in many jurisdictions, racial and ethnic disparities persist. Officials may not know how to translate data into action. Agency leaders may struggle to bring stakeholders to the table to discuss disproportionality and disparate treatment. Juvenile justice professionals may lack the latest
information about policies, practices, and programs can help eliminate racial and ethnic disparities.
This resource is designed to fill those gaps. The Racial and Ethnic Disparities Reduction Practice Manual provides practitioners with concrete guidance and strategies, downloadable tools and resources, and examples of successful reform work in jurisdictions throughout the country. By compiling lessons from Models for Change and other successful reform initiatives, the Practice Manual captures the most current and comprehensive information on reducing racial and ethnic disparities across the entire juvenile justice system, from arrest through re-entry.
The Models for Change initiative envisioned the development of more fair and effective juvenile justice systems. This practical new tool will help the field move closer to that goal for youth and families of color.
