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What’s Race Got to do With it?
North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention data show that African American youth received 50% of all juvenile complaints filed over the last three years, although African Americans only represent approximately 27% of the total juvenile population in North Carolina. So what does race have to do with it? Answering that question will be the goal of a new project being implemented by the Department titled the Race Matters Project. Department staff were recently excited to learn that the Governor’s Crime Commission will be funding the Race Matters Project with a two year grant.
This project will utilize The Race Matters Toolkit which was developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and is designed to assist organizations in achieving equitable outcomes for youth and their families. The goals of the Department’s Race Matters Project are twofold. The first goal is to reduce the rate of disproportionate minority contact at the intake phase. The second goal involves the statewide dissemination of lessons learned and practices to implement in relation to the Race Matters Toolkit. Secretary George L. Sweat stated, “this grant will gives us an excellent opportunity to address all the factors that cause disproportionate minority contact with the juvenile justice system.”
Implementation of the Race Matters Project will begin with Department staff providing awareness sessions to ten Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils. These sessions will provide an overview of the Race Matters Toolkit and how the tools enable a new way of working toward equitable results, but also a common understanding of how policies and practices contribute to disparities. During these sessions, local intake data will be presented to participants. The data will be disaggregated by race as to highlight the significance of the disproportionate minority contact in the system. Finally, during these awareness sessions, an organizational self-assessment will be used to identify how participants can maximize their capacity to get the results they want to achieve. Be looking out for these awareness sessions coming to a community near you.
To learn more about the Race Matters Project contact Jamal Carr by calling (919) 733 – 3388 or email him at jamal.carr@ncmail.net . You can also download a copy of the Race Matters Toolkit by clicking here.
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