About the R/ED Core Requirement

Information about the Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities Core Requirement in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA):

• the term ‘‘racial and ethnic disparity’’ means minority youth populations are involved at a decision point in the juvenile justice system at disproportionately higher rates than non-minority youth at that decision point [34 U.S.C. 11103 (41)]

To comply with the JJDPA’s Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities core requirement, states that participate in the Title II Formula Grant program must have a state plan which shall:

(15) implement policy, practice, and system improvement strategies at the state, territorial, local, and Tribal levels, as applicable, to identify and reduce racial and ethnic disparities among youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system, without establishing or requiring numerical standards or quotas, by—

• (A) establishing or designating existing coordinating bodies, composed of juvenile justice stakeholders, (including representatives of the educational system) at the state, local, or Tribal levels, to advise efforts by states, units of local government, and Indian Tribes to reduce racial and ethnic disparities;

• (B) identifying and analyzing data on race and ethnicity at decision points in state, local, or Tribal juvenile justice systems to determine which such points create racial and ethnic disparities among youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system; and

• (C) developing and implementing a work plan that includes measurable objectives for policy, practice, or other system changes, based on the needs identified in the data collection and analysis under subparagraph (B). [34 U.S.C. 11133(a)(15)]