Commission on Disproportionality in Youth Services
Opportunities for Public and Stakeholder Involvement
May-October, 2008
Website for Commission: http://socialwork.iu.edu/site/indexer/1598/content.htm
For General Inquiries:
Rob Schneider, Indiana University School of Social Work, 317-278-0303 or at robschn@iupui.edu, or written material can be sent to Rob Schneider, 902 W. New York St., Educational/Social Work Building, 4138A, Indianapolis, IN 46202-5156
Media Inquiries:
Rob Schneider, Indiana University School of Social Work, 317-278-0303 or at robschn@iupui.edu
Purpose:
The purpose of the Commission On Disproportionality in Youth Services is to develop and provide an implementation plan to evaluate and address disproportionate representation of youth of color in the use of youth services in juvenile justice, child welfare, education and mental health services.
Background:
Beginning in January, the Commission on Disproportionality in Youth Services began a 10 month effort to improve the way Indiana treats its children.
The commission was created by the Indiana General Assembly to develop a plan to evaluate and address disproportionate representation of youth of color in the use of youth services in juvenile justice, child welfare, education and mental health services.
Disproportionality might not be a term you are familiar with. It simply means the difference in the percentage of a certain racial or ethnic group in the general population compared to the percentage of children receiving various services. The term is used to describe the over-representation of children of color as well as the under-representation in various programs.
Why are people concerned about this? Because if fairness is the hallmark of a state’s attitude toward all of its children, then Indiana falls short of the mark.
The issue isn’t one of just numbers. It also includes disparity or the unequal treatment when comparing a racial/ethnic minority to a non-minority.
Commission Co-Chairs
Angela Green, Indiana Dept. of Child Services
Dean Michael Patchner, Indiana University School of Social Work
Timeline for Commission Recommendations:
Draft Recommendations ready for comments (tentative) August 25
Comments due from stakeholders (tentative) September 3
Final Report submitted to the Governor and General Assembly October 15
The Commission is preparing an e-mail list of all interested individuals who would like to be notified electronically when draft recommendations are ready for public comment in August 2008. All participants in stakeholder meetings, and individuals or organizations attending public forums will automatically be included. To be added to this list, please contact Margie Lee-Szymanski,
Public Forums
Eight county public forums are being organized (Lake, Allen, Marion, Howard, Vanderburgh, Floyd Counties and St. Jospeh counties) to take place in mid-May through June. One additional public forum, which will be teleconferenced to all the remote site locations of the earlier public forums, will be held on Aug. 27, so that the public will have an opportunity to respond to the draft recommendations. The public forums (as opposed to stakeholder meetings described below) are for anyone and everyone interested in disproportional minority contact with the juvenile justice system. The focus is on engaging populations of color and supportive services and organizations that have direct contact with minority youth. The public forums are intended to:
Ø Inform the community about the issue of disproportionality and disparities;
Ø Allow the Commission listen to participants’ experiences with the targeted systems; and
Ø Engage participants in developing long-term solutions to disproportionality and disparities.
The public forums will be recorded for live internet streaming where possible and for archival purposes and posting to the internet. The August 27 meeting will be teleconferenced among all six locations and recorded for internet and archival purposes. Current information regarding these meetings will be posted on the Commission’s website. The schedule below lists dates and locations for up-coming public hearings.
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Location |
Meeting Date |
|
Floyd County
Indiana University Southeast
4201 Grant Line Road
New Albany, IN |
Wednesday, June 11
6:30 – 8:30 pm
|
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Lake County
Ivy Tech Community College Multi-purpose Room,
1440 East 35th Avenue
Gary, IN |
Thursday, June 19
6:30 – 8:30 pm
|
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Vanderburgh County
Ivy Tech Community College
3501 First Avenue, Room 344
Evansville, IN |
Tuesday, June 24
6:30 – 8:30 pm
|
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Marion County
Greater St. Mark's Missionary Baptist Church
5502 East 38th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46218 |
Monday, June 30
6:30 – 8:30 pm |
|
St. Joseph County
Indiana University South Bend
1700 Mishawaka Avenue
Student Activities Building, Room 225
South Bend, IN 46634 |
Tuesday, July 1
6:30 – 8:30 pm |
|
Seven Locations – VIDEO CONFERENCE
Locations to be in the same cities as above, room information to be determined.
|
Wednesday, August 27 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Eastern Daylight Savings Time.
5:30-7:30 p.m. in Gary and Evansville |
Stakeholder Gatherings:
The Commission is planning to hold several state-wide stakeholder meetings, as well as small gatherings of local stakeholders in regions/counties with high populations of youth of color. As opposed to public forums, stakeholder meetings refer to facilitated gatherings of those agencies/professional/ individuals who are directly involved or practice in the system being considered, including representative organizations/individuals of minority youth. Through these meetings, the Commission seeks to:
Ø Learn how the current system is working at various county levels;
Ø Identify gaps and challenges from the participants’ perspectives;
Ø Begin a local dialogue about disproportionality and disparities; and
Ø Engage local stakeholders in the long-term solutions to disproportionality and disparities.
Schedule of Stakeholder Gatherings Hosted by Commission Subcommittees:
Mental Health Subcommittee
March 27, 2008, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Indiana Minority Health Coalition
3737 N. Meridian St.
Indianapolis, IN
Summary Available on Commission website
Education Subcommittee
May 22, 2008, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Indiana Government Center South
402 W. Washington St., Conference Room B
Indianapolis, IN
Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Subcommittees
May 29, 2008, 10 am- 2 pm
Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau
7770 Corinne Drive
Hammond, IN
Juvenile Justice Subcommittee
June 25, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. (central time)
LaPorte County Dorothy S. Crowley Juvenile Services Center
0364 South Zigler Rd.
LaPorte, IN
Child Welfare Subcommittee
July date pending
Location and time to be determined
Juvenile Justice Subcommittee
July 22, 2008, 1-4 pm
Indiana Government Center South
402 W. Washington St., Conference Room B
Indianapolis, IN
Calendar of Regional/Local Meetings and Presentations
Marion County, Annie E. Casey Foundation Juvenile Detentions Alternative Initiative-Indianapolis Community Summit, Disproportionate Minority Contact in the Juvenile Justice System: May 15, 2008, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The afternoon session will be a collaboration between the Indiana Commission on Disproportionality in Youth Services, and JDAI-Indianapolis, to identify the extent to which disproportionality permeates our juvenile system at various contact points within it; learn about technical assistance provided at a recent Burns Institute intensive workshop on how to reduce racial disparity in juvenile systems; and respond to action plans developed by the Marion County Juvenile Court for 2008-09 to begin reducing disproportionality.
Youth Summit June 7th
Sponsored by the IPS Office of Multicultural Education, University of Indianapolis Center for Excellence in Leadership of Learning and Harmony Corps Youth Engagement Project.
University of Indianapolis, Good Hall
1400 East Hanna Ave
Indianapolis, IN
Commission Members:
|
Rhonda Allen, Indiana Dept. Child Services |
|
Sen. Ron Alting, Indiana General Assembly |
|
Clara Anderson, Children’s Bureau, Indianapolis |
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Dr. Renae Figgins-Azziz, Indiana State University |
|
Hon. Mary Beth Bonaventura, Lake Superior Court |
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Sen. Jean Breaux, Indiana General Assembly |
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Rebecca Buhner, Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction |
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Rep. Bill Crawford, Indiana General Assembly |
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Dallas Daniels, Indiana Dept. of Education |
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Tonya Johnson, Indiana Criminal Justice Institute |
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Rep. Sean Eberhart, Indiana General Assembly |
|
Gregg Ellis, Child Advocates, Inc. |
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James Garrett, Indianapolis |
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Bill Glick, The Indiana Juvenile Justice Task Force |
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Angela Green, Indiana Dept. of Child Services |
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JauNae Hanger, Waples & Hanger, Indianapolis |
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Peter Haughan, Marion County Prosecutor’s Office |
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Nancy Jewell, Indiana Minority Health Coalition |
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Dr. James Kenny; Rensselaer, IN |
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Barbara Malone, Indiana Civil Rights Commission |
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Pam McConey, National Alliance on Mental Illness of Indiana |
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Geneva Osawe, Family Matters Institute |
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Cookie Purvis, Indiana Foster Care and Adoption Association |
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Russ Skiba, IU Center for Evaluation and Education Policy |
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Adolfo Solis, Hispanic/Latino Affairs Commission |
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Erika Stallworth, LaPorte County Juvenile Center |
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Roderick Wheeler, Central IN Community Foundation |
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Kevin Moore, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration |
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