Racial Justice Improvement

Project Task Force

Leveraging our best
assets to improve the
lives of the youth and
families.
 The American Bar Association
Criminal Justice Section
Racial Justice Improvement Project (RJIP)
 Racial Disparities
Disproportionate Minority Contact
Policy Reform Goals:
 Promote Stable Families and Communities
 Keep youth in school and out of jail
 Maximize Public Safety
Collaboration
 Common Interest
 Communication
 Needed in New Orleans…
 Of the 755 interviews conducted by the OPJC intake staff in 2016, 102 alleged
offenders were introduced to the juvenile justice system for school based
offenses;
 14% of youth interview by the OPJC intake staff in 2016 could have benefited
from participating in school based intervention programming rather than referral
to juvenile court; and
 In contrast to the 28% of total cases, more than twice that number or 58% of
school based offenses referred to the Juvenile Detention Center would have
qualified for the PASS program.
Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline

The implementation of promising policies and

practices to help ensure that children involved in
dependency and delinquency court stay in school
and are less likely to be arrested, suspended, or
expelled.
RJIP Task Force Initiatives

School-Justice
Partnership
Model

Paving Alternative
Strategies for
Success (PASS)
What is the School-Justice Partnership Model?
In a Nutshell…
 Developed by Judge Steven Teske in 2003 in Clayton

County, GA;

 MOU between schools, law enforcement, and courts;

 To create a School-Justice Partnership;

 Using a Focus Act Decision Tree;

 By replacing arrests with a Graduated Response

Program;

 That is guided by a Role Conflict Avoidance Model;

 Using the Positive Student Engagement Model for

School Policing; and

 Create an independent backbone agency to deliver

services to chronically disruptive students

 New Orleans
School-Justice Partners
Orleans Parish Juvenile
Court
Convener & Decision-
Maker

Community
Stakeholders Children New Orleans
& Police
Advisory
Families Department
&
Decision-
Resource Maker
Providers

Orleans Parish School

Board
Decision-Maker
Clayton County, Georgia Site Visit
New Orleans Delegation

 Judge Desiree Cook-Calvin,

Orleans Parish Juvenile Court
 Ranord J. Darensburg,
OPJC Judicial Administrator
 Karen Evans,
Children Youth & Planning Board
 Kristina Kent,
Orleans Parish School Board
 Damekia Morgan,
OPJC JDAI Coordinator
School-Justice Partnership
Conversation & Training

School-Justice Partnership Conversation & Training

February 27th & 28th
Starting at 8:30 am
1631 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
4th Floor Conf. Room above Café Reconcile
Space is limited. Registration Required.
Lunch Provided.
PAVING ALTERNATIVE
STRATEGIES FOR
SUCCESS (PASS)
“When did making adults mad
become a crime?”
Paving Alternative Strategies for Success
(PASS)
School Based Intervention
P.A.S.S. Goals
The goal of P.A.S.S. is to reduce the number of
youth being arrested while attending school
by addressing offenses that occur in schools
without the youth being introduced to the
juvenile/criminal justice system.
P.A.S.S. Overall Expectations
 Reduce the number of school-based arrests, suspensions, and
expulsions;

 Increase community safety through restorative justice

approaches; and

 Decrease number of youth referred to juvenile court for

school-based offenses.
Strategies
Families In Need of Services (FINS)

Identify Needs Connect to Services

Center for Restorative Approaches (CRA)

Restorative Circles Restitution Process

Continuous Value Added Skill Development

Social & Emotional Conflict Resolution

 PASS
PROCESS
2017-2018 Data
PASS
1st Quarter: October – December
2nd Quarter: January-March
3rd Quarter: April – June
2017-2018 School Year
Referrals & Interventions
9

8
8
7
7
6

5
5
4

3
3 3 3
2
2
1
1
0
0
Pass Referral Circles Interventions
Q1 Q2 Q3
PASS Preventions & Interventions
Prevention

Prevented Arrest 1

Prevented Expulsions 1

Prevented Suspensions 6

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Q3 Q2 Q1
Demographics
Gender

40%
Female
60%
Male

RACE

16

Black
 Our Call to Action…
Keep School Discipline in School

If we are to be truly collaborative in nature,

how do we collaboratively assist New
Orleans Public Schools in addressing the
root causes of their students’ disruptive
behavior before the behavior escalates to a
degree that requires court involvement
later?
Racial Justice Improvement Project
Task Force

Ranord J. Darensburg, Judicial Administrator

Orleans Parish Juvenile Court
1100-B Milton Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70122
(504) 658-9546
rjdarensburg@nola.gov