A report released by the St. Louis County Family Court shows that the court is making progress in addressing racial disparities for young people in the justice system, complying with a court order by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2015.
A 20-month Department of Justice investigation of the court found that St. Louis Family Court’s juvenile justice proceedings were routinely discriminating against black children. Its findings included failures to inform juvenile defendants of their rights and to ensure they had legal representation.
The court is now required to release a report on its progress every six months. This year’s first report, released on May 18, shows a significant reduction in differences between the treatment of black and white youth.
“Everyone at the family court is fully committed to treating all juveniles in a fair and equitable manner and eliminating disparities,” said Family Court Administrator Ben Burkemper.
From 2016 to 2017, the court reduced the rate by which black juveniles were detained more often than white juveniles by 21 percent. However, black children still make up 69 percent of referrals to the juvenile court system, although they are only 31 percent of the county’s juvenile population. The youth detained were also mostly male – 66 percent of referrals to the court were for boys.
The court’s report also found that the remaining disparity between black and white children in the justice system stemmed largely from the fact that more black youth than white youth are referred to the juvenile court system in the first place.
“We recognize that this is a community challenge that requires a community response – upstream of the courthouse,” Burkemper said. “That is why we are focusing a lot of effort on strengthening these partnerships to deal with problems at the source, before kids are sent to us. The good news is that we all share the same goal: helping kids succeed in school, remain in their communities and stay on track.”
Throughout 2017, black children were also more likely to be referred to juvenile court more than one time.
However, the court has made progress towards referring juvenile offenders to alternatives instead of juvenile detention. Alternatives utilized include electronic monitoring, home visits from court employees, and referrals to crisis services and therapy programs that can better address the child’s needs. Most of the youth referred for these alternatives in 2017 were black.
St. Louis County Family Court is now implementing the principles of a program that aims to keep as many children as possible out of juvenile detention: the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, or JDAI. JDAI is a program of the non-profit Annie E. Casey Foundation aimed at keeping families and communities together by reducing the population in juvenile detention. The model is used in nearly 300 counties nationwide.
The court also now uses an assessment tool called the Juvenile Detention Assessment Tool (JDAT) which uses common risk factors to determine objectively whether a child should be placed in detention.
The director of court programs in Family Court, Tymesha Buckner-Dobynes, told The St. Louis American in February that many children of color who come into contact with the court system directly benefit from JDAI’s programs.
Rick Gaines, the court’s chief juvenile officer, said in February that the court aims to do more to prevent unnecessary referrals to the system and to intervene early.
“We should be working with law enforcement, schools, on how to work with kids way before it gets to the point where a referral has to generated for the juvenile court process,” Gaines said. “We do our best in partnership with our agencies to try and start the discussion on, you know, if you see these kids coming down the pike, how can we intervene way before it gets to that crisis mode?”
