Equal Justice for All? An Analysis of Initiatives to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Juvenile Detention

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2015
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Haverford College. Department of Political Science
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
Racial and ethnic disparities are introduced throughout the juvenile justice system, including in pre-adjudication detention. Disparities in detention are problematic for many reasons: they cause additional disparities to accumulate later in the judicial process; they place an undue burden on families and communities of color; they cause youth of color to have worse mental health, behavioral, education, employment, and housing outcomes; and they add to a long history of racial inequalities in the United States. Although various jurisdictions in the U.S. have implemented initiatives to reduce disparities in detention, there is a dearth of research evaluating and comparing these reforms. For initiatives to be successful, policymakers need to know what reforms actually work. Thus, the goal of this policy analysis is to provide state and local policymakers with the information necessary to successfully reduce racial and ethnic disparities in detention. The policy alternatives assessed in this thesis are: a risk assessment instrument in Rapides Parish, Louisiana; an evening reporting center in Baltimore City, Maryland; and a “basket” of multiple initiatives and system reforms in Multnomah County, Oregon. I evaluate these policy alternatives using four criteria: effectiveness, cost, political feasibility, and implementation feasibility. My analysis uses both quantitative and qualitative data, including records from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, evaluations of each initiative, budget information, and interviews with officials from each jurisdiction. From this analysis, one major recommendation for policymakers is to engage in large-scale systems reform work as modeled by Multnomah County. Jurisdictions that cannot muster the upfront financial and political resources to engage in comprehensive systems reform should still consider introducing new detention alternatives (in conjunction with a risk assessment instrument if one does not already exist). Although this thesis was necessarily limited in scope, my analysis provides a useful evaluation of three different options for reducing disparities in detention, and it is an example of the type of work that researchers must engage in nationally. By analyzing and comparing even more policy alternatives, researchers can provide further evidence-based recommendations for policymakers trying to reduce disparities in detention.
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