What is RED?

Racial and ethnic disparities exist if a specific minority group’s rate of contact at a particular point in the juvenile justice system is different than the rate of contact for non-Hispanic whites or other minority groups.

Federal Statute requires states to address RED as one of the four core requirements that were added to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act in 1992.

In December 2018, the Juvenile Justice Reform Act (JJRA) of 2018 was signed into law, reauthorizing and substantially amending the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act (Pub. L. No. 93-415, 34 U.S.C. § 11101 et seq).

The requirements to address “disproportionate minority contact” have been revised. States must now identify and reduce racial and ethnic disparities (as defined in Section 103(41)) (Section 223(a)(15)).