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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Trujillo

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1-24-07

HB 122

SHORT TITLE Disproportionate Minority Youth Contact

SB

ANALYST Lucero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$100.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

New Mexico Higher Education Department (NMHED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 122 appropriates $100,000 from the general fund to Children, Youth and Families

Department (CYFD) to establish a technical assistance resource center to support the dispropor-

tionate minority contact blue ribbon panel, which collaborates with the juvenile justice advisory

committee, in its efforts to reduce disparate treatment of youth in the juvenile justice system.

The appropriation in this bill was not included in the budget request of CYFD nor was it a part of

the New Mexico Higher Education Department’s funding request for FY08.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

House Bill 122 appropriates $100,000 from the General Fund to pay for the establishment of a

technical assistance resource center. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the

end of FY08 shall revert to the General Fund.

House Bill 122 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Minority youth account for about one-third of the U.S. juvenile population but they comprise

two-thirds of the juvenile detention/corrections population. The issue of disparity in the treat-

ment of minority youth offenders centers around two themes related to juveniles in the justice

system: (1) first contact with police and the arresting of minority juveniles and then (2) the sen-

tencing of minority juveniles.

This bill proposes to collect and analyze data related to minority overrepresentation in secured

confinement, to educate the community on the disproportional of treatment of minority youth

offenders, to engage collaboration from institutions of higher education in the study of strategies

to reduce the disproportional of treatment of minority youth offenders.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

Data collected by the resource center could lead to improved outcomes for minority juveniles

who have come into contact with the justice system. More informed decision making could re-

sult if there was data concerning geographic areas of the state with higher rates of juvenile mi-

nority contact with the justice system.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

None

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

None as of 1/24/07.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

According to Federal Probation: A journal of Correctional Philosophy and Practice:

“IN 1998, CONGRESS amended the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974

by requiring that states receiving funding from Title II Part B Formula Grants program address

the issue of disproportional minority confinement (DMC). Four years later, Congress further en-

hanced the DMC focus by elevating its status to that of a "core requirement." In effect, the man-

date required states to assess the magnitude of DMC and formulate effective policies or risk los-

ing as much as 25 percent of their State Formula Block funding.

As a result, research studies examining the over-representation of minorities in the juvenile jus-

tice system have increased during the past 20 years. Research findings, however, have been

mixed, making the development of effective policies difficult (Lieber, 2002). A primary short-

coming of over-representation research has been the failure to include all relevant variables; re-

searchers have designed juvenile research to mirror that on adult outcomes (Fader, Harris, Jones

and Poulin, 2001). This approach neglects the central component of juvenile court decision-

making.

House Bill 122 – Page

3

In one of the most recent and comprehensive national studies of the problem of over-

representation of ethnic minorities in the juvenile and criminal justice system, Jones (2000)

found over-representation of youth of color at every point and the disadvantages worsened as

they went through the system. Minority youth are more likely to be referred to juvenile court, be

detained, face trials as adults, and go to jail than white youth who commit comparable crimes.

(Shepard, 1995; Pope & Feyerherm, 1995; Wilson, Gillepsie, & Yearwood, 2001.) Racial dis-

parities as well as selection and institutional bias in the process may contribute to minority over-

representation in secure facilities and suggest that the perception of white police officers can

contribute to minority over-representation. White police officers are more likely to arrest poor

minorities because of the underlying belief that they are prone to participate in criminal activity.

Additionally, seriousness of the current offense, prior offending, age as well as individual char-

acteristics may affect referral decisions. Older minority males are more likely to be recom-

mended for formal processing than are whites, younger adolescents and females (Bishop, Fra-

zier, & Charles, 1996, Drakeford & Garfinkel, 2000)."

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

In July 2004, a committee was established by the Children Youth and Families Department

(CYFD) Secretary, to examine the disparity in the treatment of minority youth during and pre-

adjudication. HB122 proposes to involve the New Mexico institutions of higher education in

assistance with research, curriculum development and training.

ALTERNATIVES

An alternative to HB122 is the development of a grant proposal funded through federal programs

or scholarships to study disproportionate minority issues.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Status Quo.

DL/mt