LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Juvenile justice in Kentucky is once again the focus in Frankfort.
On Tuesday, members of the non-profit Kentucky Youth Advocates came before lawmakers and state leaders to present data showing broad racial disparities in the system.
The message comes after a legislative session with major impacts on juvenile justice. Lawmakers passed bills to reopen the Jefferson County Youth Detention Center and to fund salaries and security upgrades at the Department of Juvenile Justice.
"There's not going to be any easy answers, because there's no easy road with this. It's going to be a tough path, but it's critical," Rep. Killian Timoney (R-D45) said.
Tuesday, the Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity and the Juvenile Justice Oversight Council heard stark data from Kentucky Youth Advocates on inequities in the system.
"We've seen fewer kids coming into the system, but again those racial disparities are exasperated or have persisted, I should say," Chief Equity Officer Cortney Downs said.
Downs said data shows Black youth are detained at about three times their rate of representation in the state's population. The data varies by county, with some areas seeing greater rates.
"Are we passing that information on to those counties, are they aware that their rates are so horrendously out of proportion to their population that there is almost no other explanation?" Sen. Karen Berg (D-D26) said.
Downs said one of the most impactful data points shows Black youth are significantly more likely to end up being sent to adult court.
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"There is a very clear as I said over-representation of Black youth at this point, if you look at youth of color collectively they make up almost 70% of the kids that are going to circuit court," she said.
A Kentucky Youth Advocates presentation asserts that "disparities are typically the result of subjective biases and policies and practices that unintentionally promote inequitable access."
Pointing to some positives, Downs noted complaints, essentially police reports for youth, are down overall.
She also said diversion programs appear to be working.
"Diversion is also a really good opportunity to get at root cause of behaviors and create tailored responses," she said.
Kentucky Youth Advocates made several recommendations, including expanding the use of diversion, reducing the use of judicial overrides and considering a "Second Look Commission" being modeled in Tennessee.
In advocating for diversion programs, Downs also noted youth whose cases are diverted have fewer subsequent complaints.
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