*NCJ~239457*

Office Of Juvenile

Justice and

delinquency PreventiOn

For information about other

OJJDP programs, go to

ojjdp.gov.

4 InFocus

Working for Youth

Justice and Safety

The Office of Juvenile Justice 

and Delinquency Prevention is 

a component of the Office of 

Justice Programs, which also 

includes the Bureau of Justice 

Assistance; the Bureau of Justice 

Statistics; the National Institute 

of Justice; the Office for Victims 

of Crime; and the Office of Sex 

Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, 

Apprehending, Registering, 

and Tracking.

For More Information on 

Disproportionate Minority Contact

To learn more about OJJDP’s efforts to reduce the overrepresentation of minority youth in 

the nation’s juvenile justice system, visit OJJDP’s DMC Web site: ojjdp.gov/dmc. The site 

provides tools and resources to help states comply with the JJDP Act’s DMC requirement. 

OJJDP’s National Training and Technical Assistance Center offers a broad range of DMCrelated training and technical assistance. Contact your state’s DMC Coordinator or Juvenile 

Justice Specialist to request OJJDP-sponsored training and technical assistance. Contact 

information is available on the OJJDP Web site:

• Visit ojjdp.gov.

• Click on “State Contacts” in the left navigation panel.

• Select the checkbox next to “DMC Contact” or “Juvenile Justice Specialist.” 

• Click on your state in the map.

• Evaluation. Phase IV involves conducting

a systematic, objective, and unbiased evaluation of a program’s implementation and

effectiveness.

• Monitoring. Phase V involves looking for

changes in state demographics that affect

DMC trends, looking for fluctuations in

DMC rates that may require adjustments

in intervention strategies, and sustaining

DMC reduction efforts.

The challenges of DMC reduction are

complex and not easily resolved, but states

are making progress. Several states have

shown reductions in disproportionality at

secure detention, and attitudinal change of

law enforcement officers at the arrest contact

points, that were based on their DMC activities (see “Summary of States’ DMC Reduction Activities,” p. 3).

continued from p. 2

 

 

 
 

 

I

 

 

Determining States’ Compliance With 

the DMC Core Requirement 

OJJDP requires all states to collect and re- • Develop and implement delinquency

port data that measure the results of funded prevention and systems improvement

activities and to use these data to inform their strategies, if DMC exists. 

administration of grant funds to improve • Evaluate and monitor the effectiveness program performance. of the chosen strategies. 

OJJDP requires states participating in the Each state2

 reports progress in a comprehenFormula Grants program to: sive 3-year plan and annual plan updates [in

compliance with Section 223(a)(22)]. Because • Identify the extent to which DMC exists addressing DMC is one of four core require- within their jurisdictions. ments3

 of the JJDP Act, OJJDP withholds 20 

• Assess the reasons for DMC, if it exists. percent4

 of their annual Formula Grant allocation for the subsequent fiscal year for states

that fail to meet the DMC plan requirement. 

OJJDP’s DMC Reduction Model 

OJJDP’s five-phase DMC Reduction Model (see DMC Reduction Cycle 

figure) helps states determine whether disproportionality exists within their jurisdictions and, if it 

does, provides a step-by-step model to guide their 

DMC reduction efforts: 

•	 Identification. In phase I, states calculate disproportionality at nine contact points in the

juvenile justice system (i.e., arrest, referral to court, diversion, case petitioned, secure detention, delinquency finding, probation, confinement in a secure correctional facility, and case

transferred, certified, and waived to adult criminal court) using the relative rate index (RRI).

The RRI provides a single index number that indicates the extent to which the volume of

that form of contact or activity differs for minority youth and majority youth. In its simplest

form, the RRI is the rate of activity involving minority youth divided by the rate of activity

involving majority youth. Any number more than 1 indicates disproportionality, except at the

diversion and probation contact points.5 

PHASE 

Identification 

PHASE II 

Assessment/ 

Diagnosis 

PHASE III 

Intervention 

PHASE IV 

Evaluation 

PHASE V 

Monitoring 

Ongoing 

DMC Reduction 

Activities 

•	 Assessment/Diagnosis. In phase II of the model, states assess the mechanisms that contribute to DMC. This includes discussing each probable

explanation, asking questions about the data and information collected, and consulting other data sources to verify the explanation. 

•	 Intervention. In phase III, plans for appropriate delinquency prevention and systems improvement activities should be implemented. Effective prevention and intervention activities include diversion, alternatives to secure confinement, advocacy, and training and technical assistance on cultural 

competency with youth and staffing practices. Systems improvement activities include advocating for legislative reforms; making administrative,

policy, and procedural changes; and implementing structured decisionmaking tools at various contact points within the juvenile justice system. 

continued on p. 4 

2

 Puerto Rico is exempt from the DMC core requirement because the U.S. Census Bureau did not require data collection by race and ethnicity until the 2010 census. 

3

 The other three core requirements are deinstitutionalization of status offenders, removal of juveniles from adult jails and lockups, and sight and sound separation of juvenile offenders from adults in 

secure institutions. 

4

 In the 1992 reauthorization of the JJDP Act, OJJDP was to withhold 25 percent of a state’s Formula Grant allocation for each finding of noncompliance with the four core requirements. In its 2002 

reauthorization of the JJDP Act, Congress reduced the penalty for noncompliance to 20 percent. 

5

 The national RRI of 0.9 reported in the National DMC Databook (www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/dmcdb/index.html) shows that, with the exception of Asian, Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander youth, minority 

youth are not being diverted or probated disproportionately relative to white youth. 

2 InFocus 
2 InFocus

OJJDP’s five-phase DMC Reduction Model (see 

figure) helps states determine whether disproportionality exists within their jurisdictions and, if it 

does, provides a step-by-step model to guide their 

DMC reduction efforts:

OJJDP’s DMC Reduction Model

2

 Puerto Rico is exempt from the DMC core requirement because the U.S. Census Bureau did not require data collection by race and ethnicity until the 2010 census.

3

 The other three core requirements are deinstitutionalization of status offenders, removal of juveniles from adult jails and lockups, and sight and sound separation of juvenile offenders from adults in

secure institutions.

4

 In the 1992 reauthorization of the JJDP Act, OJJDP was to withhold 25 percent of a state’s Formula Grant allocation for each finding of noncompliance with the four core requirements. In its 2002

reauthorization of the JJDP Act, Congress reduced the penalty for noncompliance to 20 percent.

5

 The national RRI of 0.9 reported in the National DMC Databook (www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/dmcdb/index.html) shows that, with the exception of Asian, Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander youth, minority

youth are not being diverted or probated disproportionately relative to white youth.

OJJDP requires all states to collect and report data that measure the results of funded 

activities and to use these data to inform their 

administration of grant funds to improve 

program performance.

OJJDP requires states participating in the

Formula Grants program to:

• Identify the extent to which DMC exists

within their jurisdictions.

• Assess the reasons for DMC, if it exists.

• Develop and implement delinquency

prevention and systems improvement

strategies, if DMC exists.

• Evaluate and monitor the effectiveness

of the chosen strategies.

Each state2

 reports progress in a comprehensive 3-year plan and annual plan updates [in

compliance with Section 223(a)(22)]. Because

addressing DMC is one of four core requirements3

 of the JJDP Act, OJJDP withholds 20

percent4

 of their annual Formula Grant allocation for the subsequent fiscal year for states

that fail to meet the DMC plan requirement.

Determining States’ Compliance With 

the DMC Core Requirement

continued on p. 4

PHASE I

Identification

PHASE II

Assessment/

Diagnosis

PHASE III

Intervention

PHASE IV

Evaluation

PHASE V

Monitoring

Ongoing 

DMC Reduction 

Activities

DMC Reduction Cycle

• Identification.In phase I, states calculate disproportionality at nine contact points in the

juvenile justice system (i.e., arrest, referral to court, diversion, case petitioned, secure detention, delinquency finding, probation, confinement in a secure correctional facility, and case

transferred, certified, and waived to adult criminal court) using the relative rate index (RRI).

The RRI provides a single index number that indicates the extent to which the volume of

that form of contact or activity differs for minority youth and majority youth. In its simplest

form, the RRI is the rate of activity involving minority youth divided by the rate of activity

involving majority youth. Any number more than 1 indicates disproportionality, except at the

diversion and probation contact points.5

• Assessment/Diagnosis.In phase II of the model, states assess the mechanisms that contribute to DMC. This includes discussing each probable

explanation, asking questions about the data and information collected, and consulting other data sources to verify the explanation.

• Intervention.In phase III, plans for appropriate delinquency prevention and systems improvement activities should be implemented. Effective prevention and intervention activities include diversion, alternatives to secure confinement, advocacy, and training and technical assistance on cultural 

competency with youth and staffing practices. Systems improvement activities include advocating for legislative reforms; making administrative,

policy, and procedural changes; and implementing structured decisionmaking tools at various contact points within the juvenile justice system.

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

• Evaluation. Phase IV involves conducting

a systematic, objective, and unbiased evaluation of a program’s implementation and 

effectiveness. 

• Monitoring. Phase V involves looking for

changes in state demographics that affect

DMC trends, looking for fluctuations in

DMC rates that may require adjustments

in intervention strategies, and sustaining

DMC reduction efforts. 

The challenges of DMC reduction are

complex and not easily resolved, but states

are making progress. Several states have

shown reductions in disproportionality at

secure detention, and attitudinal change of

law enforcement officers at the arrest contact 

points, that were based on their DMC activities (see “Summary of States’ DMC Reduction Activities,” p. 3). 

continued from p. 2 

For More Information on 

Disproportionate Minority Contact 

To learn more about OJJDP’s efforts to reduce the overrepresentation of minority youth in 

the nation’s juvenile justice system, visit OJJDP’s DMC Web site: ojjdp.gov/dmc. The site 

provides tools and resources to help states comply with the JJDP Act’s DMC requirement. 

OJJDP’s National Training and Technical Assistance Center offers a broad range of DMCrelated training and technical assistance. Contact your state’s DMC Coordinator or Juvenile 

Justice Specialist to request OJJDP-sponsored training and technical assistance. Contact 

information is available on the OJJDP Web site: 

• Visit ojjdp.gov. 

• Click on “State Contacts” in the left navigation panel. 

• Select the checkbox next to “DMC Contact” or “Juvenile Justice Specialist.” 

• Click on your state in the map. 

Office Of Juvenile 

Justice and 

delinquency PreventiOn 

For information about other 

OJJDP programs, go to 

ojjdp.gov. 

Working for Youth 

Justice and Safety 

The Office of Juvenile Justice 

and Delinquency Prevention is 

a component of the Office of 

Justice Programs, which also 

includes the Bureau of Justice 

Assistance; the Bureau of Justice 

Statistics; the National Institute 

of Justice; the Office for Victims 

of Crime; and the Office of Sex 

Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, 

Apprehending, Registering, 

and Tracking. 

*NCJ~239457* 4 InFocus