Disproportionate Minority Contact in Maine: DMC Assessment and Identification

The majority of Maine's youth population is white, but the minority youth population has increased dramatically over the last few years, and is projected to continue growing. At the same time, the white youth population is trending downward. This report presents quantitative 3-year trend analysis (2005-2007) and initial findings from a qualitative assessment project which begin to describe Maine's challenges and opportunities for improving the juvenile justice system's ability and preparedness to handle these population changes. This report provides a baseline of rates of disproportionate minority contact (DMC) in Maine's juvenile justice system. It also provides information for practitioners and policymakers looking to inform their understanding and awareness of the treatment of minority youth within Maine's juvenile justice system. Many of Maine's more rural counties have small minority youth populations, which prevents statistically valid examination of DMC. The six most populous counties (Aroostook, Androscoggin, Cumberland, Kennebec, Penobscot, and York) have sufficient minority population sizes to enable analysis of minority youth contact with the juvenile justice system, with some caveats.