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Second Regular Session

Sixty-first General Assembly

LLS NO. R98­0318.01 MN

STATE OF COLORADO

BY REPRESENTATIVES Grossman, Clarke, and Morrison;

also SENATOR Wham.

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 98-1003

WHEREAS, Statistics indicate that racial and ethnic disparities exist in the juvenile justice system, specifically in the sentencing of adjudicated juveniles and in the treatment and services that such adjudicated juveniles receive;

WHEREAS, The child welfare oversight committee created pursuant to section 26­5­105.7, Colorado Revised Statutes, heard testimony on this subject during its meetings in the 1997 interim;

WHEREAS, The child welfare oversight committee recommended that a task force be created to study these disparities and the nature of any biases that contribute to the existence of such disparities in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty­first General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein:

(1)  That a task force shall be created to study the racial and ethnic disparities in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in the state of Colorado and the nature of any biases that contribute to the existence of such disparities.

(2)  That such task force shall consist of four members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House, two members of the House of Representatives appointed by the House minority leader, four members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate, two members of the Senate appointed by the Senate minority leader, two community representatives with knowledge of the juvenile justice system appointed by the Governor, and two county representatives with knowledge of the juvenile justice system appointed by the statewide association of counties.

(3)  The task force study shall include, but not be limited to:

(a)  The extent to which racial or ethnic disparities exist in the juvenile justice system, specifically in the sentencing of adjudicated juveniles and in the treatment services that such juveniles receive;

(b)  The racial and ethnic composition of the populations of adjudicated juveniles who are committed to the department of human services;

(c)  Methods for mitigating or eliminating any racial or ethnic biases that are found to exist in sentencing and treatment of adjudicated juveniles;

(d)  Any suggested legislation necessary to implement the recommendations set forth in the study.

(4)  The task force study and recommendations shall be submitted to the following committees of the general assembly no later than January 1, 1999: The house and senate health, environment, welfare, and institutions committees, the house and senate judiciary committees, and the joint budget committee.

(5)  The task force is authorized to accept any gifts, grants, and donations that may be made to it for purposes of the study of the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.