NCJ Number
146460
Date Published
1993
Length
169 pages
Annotation
The Iowa Juvenile Justice Advisory Council (JJAC) received a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to study ways to reduce the disproportionate overrepresentation of minority youth in the State juvenile justice system.
Abstract
The grant, the results of which are reported here, was the first phase of a two-phase, 3-year program established to demonstrate ways of addressing new Federal mandates regarding minority overrepresentation. Phase I information was obtained by monitoring for minorities in secure facilities, including jail/lockup data, juvenile detention facility statistics, State mental health institutes, boys' State training schools, and juvenile arrest data. The report discusses ways in which the effects of race on juvenile justice decisionmaking might be assessed. Community data on the issue were obtained from town meetings, youth input, minority overrepresentation service projects, and the Iowa court information system. Other research initiatives relevant to this effort are described. The final section of the report summarizes the data and draws implications for Phase II activity. 37 figures and 13 appendixes