A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to establish the joint legislative study commission on the elimination of racial disparities in the juvenile justice system.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is established the Joint Legislative Study Commission on the Elimination of Racial Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System.  The Commission shall consist of 16 members appointed as follows:
(1)	Eight members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(2)	Eight members of the Senate appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall each appoint a cochair for the Commission. The appointing authority shall fill vacancies. The Commission shall meet upon the call of the cochairs.
SECTION 2.  The Commission shall study the root causes of, and the best practices needed to eliminate, the racial disparities in the juvenile justice system that negatively impact African-American children and other racial and ethnic minorities and their families.  In connection with this study, the Commission shall:
(1)	Clarify, document, and report on the nature of the disparities that impact African-American children and other racial and ethnic minorities and their families in the juvenile justice system, including disparities in initial contacts and referrals, diversions, adjudications, program services, commitments, and detention.
(2)	Document the effectiveness of current efforts by the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to eliminate racial disparities that affect African-American children and other racial and ethnic minorities.
(3)	Clarify and document the impact and interconnection between at‑risk students, disciplinary actions, suspensions, and expulsions in the public and private schools and in the juvenile justice system.
(4)	Identify reliable methods to identify the societal influences that have a negative impact on juveniles who have been adjudicated delinquent or undisciplined or who are at risk of becoming delinquent or undisciplined, especially African-American children and other racial and ethnic minorities, along with methods to provide those juveniles and their families with effective services and resources that will prevent involvement with the juvenile justice system in terms of adjudications and detention.
(5)	Identify the best practices to interrupt and eliminate the racial disparity in initial contacts, referrals, diversions, commitments, adjudications, detention, community program utilization, and program success rates along with success rates at other key decision points in the juvenile justice process and develop proposals to accomplish those practices.
(6)	Identify best practices and programs for providing family support services for racial and ethnic minorities to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities.
(7)	Identify any correlation between the race of staff and service providers and the outcomes for children and identify what types of training would be most effective for which types of staff in eliminating racial and ethnic disparities for children and their families.
(8)	Develop proposals regarding the best practices for eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system and the costs and feasibility of implementing programs to eliminate those disparities.
(9)	Document the measures of racial and ethnic disparities by staff members and counties and any other methods that will be helpful to identify elimination focus areas and strategies.
(10)	Document the measures needed to track the accountability for, and success of, identified strategies and practices to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system.
(11)	Identify the critical success factors for Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils and for the collaboration between law enforcement, the Judicial Department, the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, community‑based and faith‑based organizations, service providers, and educators for eliminating racial disparities in the juvenile justice system that negatively impact racial and ethnic minorities and their families.
(12)	Identify the legislative, policy, appropriations, and regulatory changes that will be necessitated by the recommendations from this study.
In conducting the study, the Commission shall consult with the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission and with the Joint Legislative Study Committee on High School Graduation and Drop Out Rates and the Task Force for Juvenile Justice Administration, if established by the 2007 General Assembly.
SECTION 3.  The Commission may contract for consultant services as provided by G.S. 120‑32.02. Upon approval of the Legislative Services Commission, the Legislative Services Officer shall assign professional and clerical staff to assist in the work of the Commission. Clerical staff shall be furnished to the Commission through the offices of the House of Representatives' and the Senate's Directors of Legislative Assistants. The Commission may meet in the Legislative Building or the Legislative Office Building upon the approval of the Legislative Services Commission. Members of the Commission shall receive per diem, subsistence, and travel allowances at the rate established in accordance with G.S. 120‑3.1.  The Commission, while in the discharge of its official duties, may exercise all the powers provided under the provisions of G.S. 120‑19 and G.S. 120‑19.1 through G.S. 120‑19.4, including the power to request all officers, agents, agencies, and departments of the State to provide any information, data, or documents within their possession, ascertainable from their records, or otherwise available to them, and the power to subpoena witnesses.
SECTION 4.  The Commission may make an interim report of its findings, conclusions, and recommendations, including any legislative proposal, to the General Assembly by the convening of the 2008 Regular Session of the 2007 General Assembly and shall make its final report to the 2009 General Assembly by January 31, 2009. The Commission shall expire on January 31, 2009, or upon filing its final report, whichever occurs earlier.
SECTION 5.  Of the funds appropriated to the General Assembly, the Legislative Services Commission shall allocate funds for the expenses of the Commission established by this act.
SECTION 6.  This act is effective when it becomes law.