Donna Ennis: Ensuring racial equity in juvenile justice systems

I have been involved for the past several years in the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI). There is overwhelming evidence that the wholesale incarceration of juvenile offenders is a failed strategy for combating youth crime.

Disproportionately, young people of color are confined in juvenile correctional facilities. A Risk Assessment Instrument was developed and then implemented and subsequently every juvenile charged with a crime was given the RAI with the consequence of a dramatic reduction in youth of color in our juvenile detention facility. This has been an effective racial equity strategy in my community.