The birth of the Woodbury DMC Committee began early in 2000 when Assistant Chief Juvenile Court Officer, Stephan Pearson, was appointed to the State DMC Committee to represent Woodbury County and the Third Judicial District to help address the overrepresentation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system in Iowa. In 2001, the State DMC Committee started to plan a statewide DMC conference for 2002 in Des Moines, Iowa, and spoke of gathering key decision-makers and stake-holders to attend.

 

Stephan Pearson, representing the State DMC Committee, then invited local decision-makers and stake-holders from Woodbury County to attend the statewide DMC conference in Des Moines. Todd Hensley (District Judge), Marchelle Denker (Juvenile Law Center), Cindy Webber-Blair (County Attorney’s Office), George W. Boykin (Woodbury County Board of Supervisors), Tony Drake (Sioux City Council), Larry Williams (Superintendent of Schools), Flora Lee (AEA12/NAACP), Alma Luna (Hispanic Community Member) and Lavette Weddell (Native Family Resource Center), all attended the first statewide DMC conference in 2002.

 

At that conference, they met as a group and committed themselves to forming a local DMC committee for Woodbury County. They also planned to host a local DMC conference in the spring of 2003 to share what they had learned and to help implement the strategies and practices at the local level.

 

Thus, the Woodbury DMC Committee formed in 2002 to address the overrepresentation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system in Woodbury County, Iowa.

 

The committee now consists of key-decision makers, stake-holders, and other involved members of the community. The committee has twenty-six active members and two full-time coordinators to assist in executing their efforts of DMC reduction. Stephan Pearson and Marchelle Denker have Co-Chaired the committee since its conception.

 

Since 2003, The University of Iowa’s DMC Resource Center has collaborated with the Woodbury DMC Committee to host an annual DMC conference in Sioux City, Iowa. The conference brings together local, state, and national leaders in the fields of juvenile justice, education, child welfare, healthcare and human services to discuss matters related to DMC. Over the years, the annual Woodbury DMC conference has grown to become one of the most highly attended local conferences on DMC in the country.

 

In 2007, at the 6th annual statewide DMC conference in Des Moines, Iowa Governor, Chet Culver, announced his administration’s commitment and efforts to reduce DMC. With Executive Order #5, Governor Culver created the Race and Detention Task Force for Youth to ensure that young minorities in Iowa are “fairly and justly” treated by the system and to develop policies to combat recidivism. The Woodbury DMC Committee and the State DMC Committee now work closely with the Race and Detention Task Force for Youth to reduce the overrepresentation of minorities in Iowa’s juvenile justice system.

 

“Reducing DMC requires ongoing efforts and follow-through. As we enter 2008, the Woodbury DMC committee pledges its allegiance to reducing the overrepresentation of minority youth in Iowa’s juvenile justice system,”—Gary Niles, Chief Juvenile Court Officer-Third Judicial District, Woodbury DMC Committee.