Santa Cruz
Reducing Disproportionate Minority Confinement: Santa Cruz, Calif.
In 1997, Latino youth comprised almost 74 percent of the detention population in Santa Cruz, Calif. Nine years later, Latino youth comprised 54 percent of the detention population. [i] [ii] In addition to convening stakeholders to work with agencies to examine the data at all decision points using a racial lens, two other elements were crucial to these results:
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Collaboration and leadership.
The chief of the Santa Cruz County probation department played a crucial role initiating this effort along with Latino community leaders. The department implemented a cultural competency education effort and increased its bilingual/bicultural capacity at various decision points to reflect the proportion of Latino youth in the system.
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Community-based services.
Santa Cruz increased the number of detention alternatives, adding electronic monitoring and partnering with a community-based agency. A culturally sensitive residential drug treatment program, a school-based day treatment program and a family preservation program were developed to expand services for minority youth.
[i] Cox, J. and Bell, J., Addressing Disproportionate Representation of Youth of Color in the Juvenile Justice System, 2001.
[ii] Hoytt, E.H., Schiraldi, V., Smith, B.V., and Ziedenberg, J., Pathways to Juvenile Detention Reform: Reducing Racial Disparities in Juvenile Detention. Baltimore, Md.:Annie E. Casey Foundation.