Rhonda K. Lewis, Ph.D., MPH, Keyondra Brooks, Ph.D., Hana Shahin, Ph.D., Rosalind Canare,  Ph.D., Stormy Malone, Ph.D.

Big Picture

In our community, a disproportionate number of African American and Hispanic youth are in the juvenile justice system compared to the actual population of youth in the community. At the time this study was conducted, 34% of justice-involved youth were African American, 27% were Hispanic/Latino, and 39% were White. In contrast, only 9% of African American youth, 17% of Hispanic/Latino youth, and 80% of White youth make up the population in our mid-sized midwestern community (U.S. Census, 2023).

A partnership was formed between Team Justice, a juvenile justice advisory board consisting of:

• the Sedgwick County’s Sheriff
• the Chief of Police
• the District Attorney
• an Administrative judge
• an appointed educational professional
• an appointed probation officer
• appointees from the Board of County Commissioners
• members appointed by the City Council
• the local Department of Corrections
• and a local university research team (the Behavioral Community Research and Action Team – BCRAT)

The goal of this collaboration was to come together to gather input from the community about why there are racial and ethnic disparities in our juvenile justice system. To attain information from the community, the Behavioral Community Research and Action Team (BCRAT) conducted community needs and assets assessments and listening sessions with diverse groups throughout the community. The primary goal of this project was to use the collected information in the development of a strategic plan at the state level, which would aid in the distribution of funds toward prevention efforts.

Identifying Policy Challenge and Opportunity

This partnership provided a unique opportunity for the community to share their perspective on how resources are allocated that impact juvenile justice. All sectors (schools, law enforcement, faith community, grassroots organizations, and cultural groups – BIPOC and sexual and gender minorities) of the community were brought together to understand why there was a disparity in African American and Hispanic youth being in the juvenile justice system.

The rationale behind this collaboration was to bring awareness to the community about how the Department of Corrections operates and provide information to the Department of Corrections about the community’s perceptions of the department. For instance, the community was informed of some of the policies related to juvenile justice, including:

1. Once youth are involved in the system, parents must comply with the orders they are given,
2. There are cultural and language barriers, and parents may not understand what is happening (McCarter & Durant (2022),
3. While their child is system-involved, parents are not given much input,
4. Often, parents and youth cannot pay the fees associated with court costs, and
5. Parents and youth may have transportation issues and cannot actively participate in programs offered by the Department of Corrections.

During the time of the project, the juvenile justice advisory board (Team Justice) was open to gathering input from the community, allowing for justice-involved youth and their families to critique the system and discuss a strategic plan for the state of Kansas to more appropriately distribute funds for youth programming. The voices of youth (Black, youth in foster care, sexual and gender minority, Hispanic/Latino, Asian)  and key stakeholders (parents — Black and Hispanic/Latino — counselors, school resource officers) in the community at large were used to challenge current policy to help youth live productive lives and avoid the juvenile justice system.

Implementing the Strategy

To begin the community activation process, BCRAT held work sessions with a team of community advisors. The goals of these work sessions were to identify access points for groups most impacted by the current juvenile justice system and ensure diverse voices were included in the listening sessions. At this point, a community needs and assets assessment was generated using existing surveys from the literature, input from the juvenile justice advisory committee, and youth advocates. The community assessment consisted of 42 questions. BCRAT distributed the community assessment and made the assessment available on paper, at the courthouse, and electronically using a QR code. A total of 281 surveys were gathered from community residents. (See Table 1 for sample questions from the survey.)

The BCRAT members hosted listening sessions in multiple locations around our midwestern mid-sized community (in-person) and virtually to capture the experiences of youth and adults from various backgrounds. Recruitment flyers were distributed throughout the community, and community partners invited community members to the listening sessions. The BCRAT team developed the listening session protocol and worked with the county representative to conduct the listening sessions.

A total of 18 listening sessions were conducted, with a total of 118 participants. Participants consisted of 77 adults and 41 youth.

At each session, the protocol included:

1. Providing participants with a general overview of the project,
2. The local county partner describing the purpose,
3. The team sharing local statistics, and
4. Presenting three questions to attendees for individual responses and discussion.

At each session, baseline data were presented to build awareness about how many young people were in the juvenile justice system and to create an understanding of the problem, and to develop critical consciousness about youth in the system. After presenting the purpose and baseline statistics, each session focused on listening to participants’ responses to three primary questions. First, participants were asked to respond independently. After participants were given time to write their answer to a question, participants shared their responses, and similar answers were grouped and posted on a flip chart. This process was repeated for each question. Sessions ranged from 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Assessment Results

Demographic data from the community needs assessment showed that 10% of the participants identified as Black/African American, 60% identified as White, 6% identified as Hispanic/Latino, 3% identified as Native/Native American, 1.2% identified as Asian American, 1.2% identified as Pacific Islander, and 18% preferred not to respond. The average participant age was 44, with ages ranging from 16 to 76.

Sixty percent identified as female, 17% identified as male, 21% did not answer, and 2% did not identify within the male/female binary.

Action and Advocacy

Factors that may impact juvenile justice issues, as identified by the community needs and asset assessment, revealed that mental health, financial needs, healthy foods, and safety needs are the most important. Regarding access to services, GED assistance, substance use help, and healthy food came up most often as factors that may impact juvenile justice issues.

Community Needs and Assets Assessment Results

BCRAT members worked together to develop themes based on responses to the needs and assets assessment. Themes and examples are provided for each question.

Overall, the community needs and asset assessment provided useful information to the partnership (Department of Corrections, advisory board, and the university research team) by providing input about what community members believed were the contributors to success and failures of the juvenile justice system and why they believed youth were getting into trouble. Overall, community members viewed a lack of mentors and positive role models, and a lack of parenting as a missing support for youth. Youth who see a display of criminal behavior from parents, lack discipline from their parents, and whose parents are not positive role models contribute to youth becoming justice-involved.

Listening Session Results

Eighteen listening sessions (N=118; 77 adults and 41 youth) were conducted with middle school teachers, high school teachers, counselors, pastors, School Resource Officers, youth under supervision of the juvenile justice system, Hispanic/Latino adults, Hispanic/Latino youth, Asian American adults, Asian American youth, Black and African American youth and adults, students in the local school district, LGBTQ+ youth, Foster Care youth, and police officers. Participants who belonged to these groups were recruited through community partnerships, and a listening session was held specifically for each of these demographics. Each listening session focused on three primary questions, as stated below. For each question, responses are shown using a Table and a word cloud.

Table 5: Listening Session Question 1

Summary

Overall, several key themes were identified. The community agrees that youth need mentors and role models, resources, career opportunities, parents, and schools. It was noted that schools played a pivotal role in the lives of children in terms of access to recreational spaces, education about social aspects of life (reproductive health), and career development.

Table 6: Listening Session Question 2

Summary

Overall, several key themes were noted. Schools also played a key factor in how often students are taken to the juvenile justice system because incidents often occurred at school. Respondents wanted more activities held at the school and for the school to be a welcoming place. The community participants demonstrated a desire for increased activities and education for the youth, and a need for supportive people to help the family.

Table 7: Listening Session Question 3

Summary

Taken together, respondents stated they wanted after-school programming available to youth at school. Overall, they expressed that more support is needed through the involvement of more adults who can exert a positive influence on youth, and the development of more resources. Volunteering and community service at school programs are needed once people become system involved. One creative location-specific solution provided by the respondents was to create more skateparks as a positive activity for youth.

Lessons Learned

The primary lesson learned from this project was that the community does know what is best for themselves. Specifically, the youth of the community can provide valuable insight about their own lived experiences and what they need to improve the community. Ensuring that youth had a voice in the data collected was a key element of this project, and as a result, youth now have a voice on the justice system’s advisory board. The community assessment and listening sessions provided information to help guide the strategic planning process and helped generate a teen justice advisory board to provide input to Team Justice. The teen justice board is comprised of youth and young adults who are passionate about change within the juvenile justice system.

The community partners also held a juvenile justice summit, which was the culmination of the partnership project. At this community conference, the BCRAT shared the results of the needs/assets assessment and listening sessions with members of the community. Feedback after the summit indicated that the information was well received by both community members in attendance and members of the justice system. Additionally, youth who participated in the project were able to share their experiences of being juvenile justice involved, parents were able to share their experiences of having a youth involved in the juvenile justice system, and how the community could work better together.

Another lesson learned was that this project was only possible with all of the partners working together. The BCRAT was able to access the community and gather varied voices with the help of community partners. The justice system had an open mind to listen to the feedback provided by the community. The community trusted that their voice would be heard and contribute to meaningful change. Beyond the benefits of collaboration, partnerships throughout the community show youth that collaboration works. Additionally, partnerships may be the solution to fulfilling the missing resources indicated by the youth and their families.

Looking Forward     

As we look forward, several recommendations were made to the local advisory board called Team Justice.

• First, to ensure that youth have a part in the decisions that affect them, there was a recommendation to create the Teen Justice group for youth advocacy (including youth voice (McCarter & Durant, 2022).
• Second, youth in particular stated that there were not enough “hang out” places for youth to be after school that would provide safety, entertainment, and youth capacity building. For example, youth talked about reimagining existing activities available through organizations such as Boys & Girls Clubs and the YMCA, and connecting youth with existing services of which they were unaware.
• Third, folks who have influence need to create more productive outlets for youth, such as Art, recreational activities, and sports activities. These opportunities could serve to keep youth out of trouble, build meaningful relationships, and build career-ready skills. Lastly, the youth and the community suggested that establishing partnerships is key and important for youth to interact with partners in the communities to see that collaboration can work (Mallet, 2018).

References

Mallett, C. (2018). Disproportionate minority contact in juvenile justice: today’s and yesterday’s problems. Criminal Justice Studies. 31, 230-248. https:/doi.org/10.1080/1478601X.2018.1438276.

McCarter, S., & Durant, T. (2022). Disproportionate minority contact (DMC) to racial and ethnic disparities (RED) in juvenile justice: What does it mean and does it matter? Journal of Forensic Social Work, 6, 57-76,

U.S. Census (2023). Retrieved March 13, 2025. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/sedgwickcountykansas/PST045223

Acknowledgements

Dr. Delores Craig, Emeritus Faculty member, School of Community Justice, Wichita State University