Team works to find answers to racial disparity issues in Johnson County juvenile justice

Raise your hand if you like to talk about racism.

Keep that hand in the air if you like to discuss it with people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.

Anyone still have a hand up? We're guessing not many. Once a communitywide conversation involves racism, productive discussion tends to shut down.

As six colleagues who work in the major systems that work with youth in our community, we get more practice than many in talking about race, diversity and disparity in Johnson County.

Yet when we came together as a group to tackle these issues, we found that even we didn't share a common understanding or a common language with which to discuss them.

Our emotions created another potential barrier. Discussing racial disparities provokes a wide range of responses, from confusion to indifference to anger to defensiveness.

We have learned that there is a better way to frame and approach issues involving racial and ethnic disparities: Follow the data.

Last year, five members of our team - a judge, a cop, a school administrator, a Juvenile Court officer, and a social worker (and yes, there is a joke in there somewhere) - went together to a weeklong program in Washington, D.C. that taught us to do just that.

The training we attended, operated by the Georgetown Center for Juvenile Justice Reform and the Center for Children's Law and Policy, focuses on how to implement effective strategies for reducing racial and ethnic disparities. Johnson County's admission to this certificate program was contingent upon a couple of key requirements. One, we had to send an interdisciplinary team. Two, we had to commit to concrete changes in our current methods. In other words, we couldn't just go to the conference, learn new ideas, and then put the information on a shelf to gather dust. We had to come back prepared to act.

systemic problem

This is what racial disparity looks like in our juvenile justice system. Our population of children ages 10-17 is 77 percent white youth, 23 percent youth of color; our arrest rates among this same group are 45 percent white youth, 55 percent youth of color.

In case anyone thinks that this is only because of police behavior, here's some more data. In our schools, where officers only respond to calls, the disparity is greater: 38 percent white youth, 62 percent youth of color. Well over 80 percent of these offenses are minor misdemeanors.

Johnson County is not alone in these numbers. Nationwide, youth of color are treated differently than white youth even when their behaviors are the same. More troubling evidence shows that any disparity which exists at the point of arrest persists and worsens as youth move deeper into the system, including detention and out-of home placement, all the way to adult arrest and incarceration.

This is our system. And the bottom line is that no matter how fair each individual teacher, cop, judge, or probation officer is, the system is unfair.

The 'whys” for this are complex and include poverty, the economy, history, culture and political polarization. All of these factors must be debated and addressed. But those of us who work with youth every day simply cannot wait for these issues to be resolved before we act. So where do we start? How can you join us?

Cooperative approaches

First, we can agree that no one person, group or agency is solely to blame for the problem, and no one person, group or agency acting alone is going to fix it. It is critical to root out individual acts of racism and bias. And yet, disparity is a system problem that requires system solutions.

Second, we can agree that we all want what is best for our youth - good schools, stronger families, and safe communities.

Third, we can agree to talk without judging or attacking, and to listen without feeling judged or attacked. We must be willing to have courageous conversations across our different roles and perspectives.

Johnson County is blessed with people who have spent many years speaking up about the harm and lasting consequences of racial disparities on our community's youth of color. These leaders organize, sponsor forums, go to our city council and school board meetings, create new programs, and persist even when they feel ignored or rebuffed. We need to listen and be guided by them.

Our law enforcement agencies and officers, our school administrators and staff, and our juvenile probation officers have done intense, difficult and, for the most part, unpublicized and unappreciated work. We need to acknowledge their efforts and partner with them.

Change will not come quickly enough. But, when we work together to push ourselves - and to be willing to be pushed - forward, we will create lasting changes at every point in our systems.

Concrete steps

Our little team came back from Washington determined to keep more of our children out of a system that all too often starts with school discipline and ends up with incarceration. We came back prepared to take concrete steps toward three concurrent goals:

1. Make sure that youth receive the support, encouragement, and respect they deserve without ever entering our corrective systems;

2. Create responsive juvenile justice programs that hold youth accountable and also give them an opportunity to learn the skills they need to avoid future involvement; and

3. Keep our community safe for everyone.

A tall order, but we know we can do it.

When we 'followed the data,” we were also able to see where we're succeeding: over 80 percent of our youth who commit minor offenses for which we have good education-based corrective programs never reoffend - not as youth, not as adults. We need to expand these diversion programs, as they are known, and we need to offer them to youth before they ever enter the formal juvenile justice system.

In August, the first such pre-charge diversion opportunity will be offered as part of a comprehensive revision of the Iowa City Community School District's response plan for fights occurring at school. Once established, we believe this model can quickly expand beyond the schools and to include other minor offenses.

Ongoing commitment

Our community is ready to take square aim at racial disparity in the delinquency system. When we succeed, the results will someday be seen not just for youth, but also in the adult criminal system.

Talking about and addressing disparity doesn't have to be a controversial proposition.

We'll commit to courageous conversations, and we'll let the data shine a light on our path forward. We'll make lasting positive changes. When we do, our children, our families, our schools, our community - and, yes, our system - will be healthier, fairer, stronger and safer.

Raise your hand if you're ready for that.

Sara Barron is co-chairwoman and Johnson County Disproportionate Minority Contact Committee and community relations director, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County

LaTasha DeLoach is co-chairwoman, Johnson County Disproportionate Minority Contact Committee and community projects specialist, Johnson County Social Services

Deb Minot is a district associate judge, Sixth Judicial District of Iowa

Joan Vanden Berg is youth and family development coordinator, for the Iowa City Community School District

Team members Chris Wyatt, juvenile court supervisor, Sixth Judicial District of Iowa, and Iowa City Police detective Kevin Bailey were not available to contribute to this column.

Contact: JoCoDMC@gmail.com