Agenda - 06-20-2023; 8-g - JCPC Certification and County Plan for FY 2023-2024

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33 required related to five "contact points" and the Governor's Crime Commission is NC's designated state agency to monitor compliance. The five contact points that need to be reported on include: arrest, diverted/not approved, detention, YDC placement, and transfer. Data is published on fiscal year basis with most current data from FY21-22. According to US Census data, there are almost 21,000 youth ages 6-17 in Orange County(White = 61%, Black/AA= 12%, Hispanic/Latino = 16%, Asian= 10%, Native American =0.34%). There were a total of 316 complaints files against 103 juveniles (Black/AA= 67%, White= 24%, Hispanic = 6%, other= 3%). When talking about disparities you need to look at the relative rate index (RRI). In Orange County, youth of color are 5 times more likely to receive a complaint than their white counterpart. Over the past 5 years, there has been about a 60% increase in the number of complaints received. When looking at the number of complaints not approved, 24% were not approved for Black/AA compared to 40-45% for the other races/ethnicities. There were 5 youth in Orange County that were transferred to adult court and all of them were youth of color (5 Black/AA, 1 Hispanic/Latino). Orange County had 55 school-based complaints (out of total 316). 53% were White youth, 42% were Black/AA youth, 4% Hispanic/Latino, and 1% other. When looking at offense group by race, this data stood out because Orange County has higher rates than other counties in NC in terms of the breakdown of violent, serious, and minor offenses. Felony Class A-E made up 23% of complaints which is over 3x times the state average. What could we do with the RED data? It should be used to help law enforcement,judges, community leaders, and other decision makers understand the reality of racial and ethnic disparities within the community. Examine the resources on hand and determine from the data how to distribute them to ensure all youth have access to the same opportunities. Talk to law enforcement to see what their policies are and find out if they are encouraged to divert young people and if there are diversion programs available. The RED Section of Court Services' primary role is to assist jurisdictions in reducing the disproportionate representation of youth of color in the NC juvenile justice system by providing data analysis, education and awareness, JJDPA compliance, grant management, and Juvenile Minority Sensitivity Training (JMST). There are 8 REDuction Strategies that have proven to be effective: 1) focus on data and utilization; 2) increase collaboration with other state and local agencies, police,judges, and the community; 3) changing culture away from punitive or procedural focus toward a focus that's best for the youth and community; 4) affiliate with National JJ (Youth Justice) Reform Initiatives; 5) creating alternative to detention, secure confinements, and formal system involvement; 6) intentional focus has to be on RED reduction; 7) leadership at both state and local levels; and 8) making RED a long-term priority. Program Updates Dispute Settlement Center—In FY 21-22, they handled 10 referrals and so far YTD, they are just wrapping up their eighth referral and will be working on 9, 10, and 11 next week and are on track to potentially double last year's number. Shout out to the court counselors for keeping the referrals coming and diverting the youth where possible. The Exchange Club—We have received one referral for the month of December and was a slow month. They are still having issues with getting their families to attend group so they decided to get creative and allow the parents to do group virtually and see if they would bring the youth. The in-home component is thriving and they are trying to find a way to get the same support over to the group. Q: What was the source of your one referral in December?