Accomplishments in the Past Year

            The DMC Executive Committee has met every month for the past year.  Recognizing the congruity of interests, the Committee began discussions with the Annie E. Casey Foundation on participation in their national Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI).  Pima County became a replication site in October 2004, and both projects are overseen by the committee, renamed the DMC/JDAI Executive Committee.

PCJCC also contracted with the W. Haywood Burns Institute to provide technical assistance specifically with DMC.  In February 2005, PCJCC appointed a JDAI Coordinator with national experience in addressing the issues facing Pima County.

            PCJCC staff have compiled and analyzed extensive data, with the goal of developing a comprehensive profile of children in detention.  Among other factors considered are age, race/ethnicity, gender, nature of offense or referral, day/time of arrest, and length of stay in detention.  The Information Technology staff created geo-maps identifying the residence of detained minors.  Additional geographic-related data has been compiled from law enforcement, behavioral health, and other sources.  This data is being used to identify specific strategies to reduce the inappropriate use of detention and disproportionate contact.

            The Executive Committee has created a number of work groups to tackle specific problems areas.  These include:

• Risk Assessment Instrument.  With technical assistance from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this group has reviewed and revised the screening tool used to determine whether a minor will be detained, by removing subjective factors and other criteria that may result in inappropriate detention, specifically of minority youth.
• Provisional Warrants.  This group has developed a modified warrant and related procedures to be used in cases where a minor fails to appear for a court hearing but does not appear to be a threat to the community.  Probation officers will have the discretion not to arrest minors subject to such warrants where it appears that the parents will assure the minor’s attendance at the next hearing.
• Ad Hoc Target Site.  Using a wide variety of geographically related data, this group is in the process of identifying specific areas of the community from which a high percentage of minority youth are referred to the detention center.  The Executive Committee and the DMC Coordinator will develop and implement a strategy to work in partnership with these local communities to identify ways in which arrests can be avoided or minors released from detention with appropriate services and supervision in place.
• Probation Violators.  A large percentage of the detention populations are minors on probation who commit “technical” violations of the conditions of probation (e.g., curfew violations, failure to attend school, etc.)  This group will develop a profile of this population and develop strategies to avoid inappropriate use or overuse of detention as a sanction.

Additional groups will be formed to address cooperation and continuity with behavioral health providers (to prevent delays in releasing detained minors due to the absence of appropriate behavioral health services in the community) and to develop strategies specific to minors and families involved in domestic violence.