Reducing Racial Disparities in Juvenile Confinement in Massachusetts

Introduction
Concerns about the overrepresentation of minority youth in secure confinement have long been noted, and much research has been devoted to this issue. It is only within the past decade or so, however, that national attention has been directed to the impact of race on juvenile justice decision-making in regards to confinement. In the 1998 amendments to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (Pub. L. No. 93-415, 42 U.S.C. 5601 et seq.), Congress required that Massachusetts, which was participating in the Formula Grants Programs, determine if d…