Act 4 Juvenile Justice JJDPA Fact Sheet on Core Protections: Racial and Ethnic Disparities 

“The week of December 10, 2018, Congress passed H.R. 6964, the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018 (the Act) with overwhelming bipartisan support. The President signed the bill into law on December 21, 2018, amending the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) after years of collaborative efforts among juvenile justice organizations and advocates across the United States.

There are three major changes to the JJDPA with regards to racial and ethnic disparities. First, the bill now uses the more widely accepted and accurate term “racial and ethnic disparities,” instead of “disproportionate minority contact”. The JJDPA defines “racial and ethnic disparities” as “minority youth populations [being] involved at a decision point in the juvenile justice system at disproportionately higher rates than non-minority youth.” Second, the JJDPA adds the term “ethnicity” alongside references to race in the Act, which clarifies that officials must consider both race and ethnicity in efforts to reduce disparities. For example, the JJDPA now requires that state plans provide assurances that youth in the juvenile justice system are treated equitably on the basis of ethnicity, where it previously only required equitable treatment on the basis of gender, race, family income, and disability. Third, the JJDPA is more specific about expectations of states to implement policy, practice, and system improvement strategies to identify and reduce racial and ethnic disparities within the juvenile justice system.”