The RED (Racial and Ethnic Disparities) Workgroup, begun in 2016 at TJJD, includes about two dozen active members from central office and staff at facilities.
In 18 months of focused work, their brainstorming has produced significant changes at the agency aimed at reducing racial and ethnic inequities and unfair treatment that can arise when these issues are left unexamined.
RED REPORT CARDS
One major accomplishment has been the establishment of RED Report Cards. These are used to track “security referrals” and “use of force” incidents by race and ethnicity. This tracking, done twice a year at each secure facility, enables staff to look at whether use of force and security referrals are meted out disproportionately. A security referral is when a youth is asked to go to a security setting to maintain safety for others.
TJJD statistics reveal that over the years African-American youth have received security referrals at a higher rate than their white and Hispanic counterparts in the system. This tracks with national studies that show blacks often face more severe discipline in incarceration settings.
In studying the matter, the RED group found that black youth were referred to security more often for certain minor rule violations, such as “threatening others.” Group members became concerned that these blemishes on a youth’s record would follow him or her through the system and be compounded at other decision points during the youth’s stay at TJJD.
If a youth is unfairly labeled as a troublemaker, he or she can feel alienated and uncertain about prospects in the system; the disproportionate impacts can cascade, as lesser offenses stack up, perhaps unfairly, on the youth’s record.
REDUCING ALL SECURITY REFERRALS
The key question: Could these security referrals be mediated differently and do less harm?
“It’s the place to start to get the most bang for your buck, if you reduce the number of incidents where black youth get referred to security,” said Michael Turner, director of state programs and services.
This not only gives individual youth a better chance at clean start within the system, it fosters a more positive culture overall, benefitting everyone, he stressed.
Turner is a member of the RED subgroup on “root causes,” which looks for the reasons behind racial and ethnic disparities. Root causes are important to understand, and difficult to ascertain. So the committee decided to work on parallel tracks, to try to untangle the nettlesome reasons behind the security referral imbalances, but also to move ahead with an early action recommendation.
“Let’s reduce the security referrals for everybody, and that will be the single greatest thing we can do to reduce the number of black youth being referred to security,” Turner said.
It was the clear first step.
In 18 months of focused work, their brainstorming has produced significant changes at the agency aimed at reducing racial and ethnic inequities and unfair treatment that can arise when these issues are left unexamined.
RED REPORT CARDS
TJJD statistics reveal that over the years African-American youth have received security referrals at a higher rate than their white and Hispanic counterparts in the system. This tracks with national studies that show blacks often face more severe discipline in incarceration settings.
In studying the matter, the RED group found that black youth were referred to security more often for certain minor rule violations, such as “threatening others.” Group members became concerned that these blemishes on a youth’s record would follow him or her through the system and be compounded at other decision points during the youth’s stay at TJJD.
If a youth is unfairly labeled as a troublemaker, he or she can feel alienated and uncertain about prospects in the system; the disproportionate impacts can cascade, as lesser offenses stack up, perhaps unfairly, on the youth’s record.
REDUCING ALL SECURITY REFERRALS
“It’s the place to start to get the most bang for your buck, if you reduce the number of incidents where black youth get referred to security,” said Michael Turner, director of state programs and services.
This not only gives individual youth a better chance at clean start within the system, it fosters a more positive culture overall, benefitting everyone, he stressed.
Turner is a member of the RED subgroup on “root causes,” which looks for the reasons behind racial and ethnic disparities. Root causes are important to understand, and difficult to ascertain. So the committee decided to work on parallel tracks, to try to untangle the nettlesome reasons behind the security referral imbalances, but also to move ahead with an early action recommendation.
“Let’s reduce the security referrals for everybody, and that will be the single greatest thing we can do to reduce the number of black youth being referred to security,” Turner said.
It was the clear first step.