Atlanta, GA — The Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) Statistical Analysis Center (SAC), is pleased to announce it has completed a three-phase analysis of Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) in Georgia. The analysis, Disproportionate Minority Contact in Georgia’s Juvenile Justice System: A Three Prong Approach to Analyzing DMC in Georgia, was funded by a 2014 Title II Formula Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) as part of a requirement of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA).

The Georgia Juvenile Justice State Advisory Group (SAG), guides Georgia’s compliance with the JJDPA, which includes leading the consistent review of and strategic response to DMC in the state’s juvenile justice system. In 2016, the SAG commissioned the Georgia SAC to conduct a DMC identification study and assessment with the goal of identifying emerging trends to determine where intervention strategies can be most effectively implemented. Georgia’s last assessment was completed by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government in 2012.

The completed analysis used a mixed method, three-phase approach to evaluating DMC in Georgia. The first phase began with an initial identification study, which calculated a relative rate index for each of Georgia’s 159 counties for each step in the juvenile justice system. The second phase was an assessment using a causal statistical analysis to identify possible county level factors that influence disproportionality at referral for African American youth in Georgia. The third was face-to-face stakeholder interviews with various practitioners to provide more in-depth analysis of the factors that were identified in the assessment phase as contributing factors to DMC.

Notably, the analysis produces five recommendations for addressing DMC moving forward. These five recommendations include, reducing DMC at referral, targeting intervention efforts to those counties with sustained disproportionality, reducing the use of certain disciplinary measures at the school level, analyzing individual-level data for differential offending, and utilizing enhanced data collection methods to shape specialized interventions. Download this pdf file. The full analysis is available here .

Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice Assistant Commissioner, and SAG member, Joe Vignati says, “The SAG is pleased with the work of the Statistical Analysis Center and confident the analysis will be used as a tool to advise strategies for our work in DMC moving forward.”

Title II awards are made annually to the Designated State Agency (DSA) in each state. The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council serves as Georgia’s DSA for this federal funding stream.

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About Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC)

Created by the Georgia General Assembly in 1981 as an Executive Branch agency, the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) represents the culmination of many efforts to establish a statewide body that would build consensus and unity among the State's diverse and interdependent, criminal justice system components. For more information visit the CJCC website: https://cjcc.georgia.gov/.

Samantha Wolf – Communications and External Affairs Director | Atlanta | 404/657-1958