School Expulsion / Suspension Report (January 2003) (PDF)
School Expulsion / Suspension Report (January 2003) (DOC)

The purpose of this document is to answer six research questions using Maine data sources and school discipline policies.  The questions are:

1. Who is suspended / expelled?
2. Why are they suspended / expelled?
3. What happens after the initial disposition?
4. What are the needs of the suspended / expelled youth?
5. What are the university of Maine Local Education Agency (LEA) suspension / expulsion policies?
6. What models exist to provide schools with intensive supervision resources to support high-risk youth?

This paper addresses detention in Maine's two secure detention centers and provides a portrait of the centers and the youth there.

Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) refers to the overrepresentation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system in certain areas of the United States. Because research at the national level has demonstrated that minority youth are often overrepresented at key decision points, such as arrest and confinement in juvenile detention centers, in a state’s juvenile justice system, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) requires all states to assess whether DMC exists in their jurisdiction. This report describes Maine’s first attempt to not only identify whether DMC exists, but also to evaluate gaps in current data systems and the quality of the available data to assess Maine’s capacity to effectively identify DMC. This evaluation of the data systems and the quality of the data they provide will inform the state about potential next steps to take to ensure the quality of its juvenile DMC data.