Florida’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities Address Racial Disparities Within the Criminal Justice System Using Results-Based Accountability

Abstract

The current climate of criminal justice agencies reveals eroding community trust of local police advanced by growing attention to violence among police and citizens, differential justice in our courts, limited governmental accountability, and decades of overreliance on the correctional system and the mass incarceration of our most vulnerable citizens. The policies and practices of criminal justice agencies coupled with the conditions in which many Americans live have contributed to an overrepresentation of African Americans/Blacks within police interactions and arrests, in courts and sentencing, corrections, and juvenile justice. Similarly, the underrepresentation of African American/Blacks as practitioners and workers within these agencies have yielded a dichotomized view in which African Americans represent “the most of the worst and least of the best.” In effort to reverse these trends, the Florida Historically Black Colleges and Universities Expanding the Bench Project utilizes the consortium of Florida’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (FL HBCUs) as an effective mechanism to educate and train criminal justice, sociology, social work, education, psychology, and STEM science faculty and students on performance management using the Results-Based Accountability framework. The purpose of the Annie E. Casey Foundation sponsored project is to increase the representation of people of color with knowledge and expertise in program evaluation. With approximately 3,000 students (undergraduate/graduate) and 30+ faculty members represented among the social, education, and behavioral science disciplines of FL HBCUs, the consortium is uniquely positioned to develop and train current and future human service professionals, leaders, and experts in Florida and nationally.