The State of Affairs: Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities (RED) in Treatment Courts
March 26, 2025 | 12:30 PM–2:00 PM EST
Presenters: Zephi Francis and Matthew Collinson
Treatment court staff and statewide offices have made significant strides towards addressing racial and ethnic disparities (RED) in treatment courts over the past decade. However, despite these efforts, over 70% of all treatment court participants identified as white in a 2022 national report. Additionally, some racial and ethnic minorities continue to graduate programs at a lesser rate than their white counterparts. Statewide offices have an important strategic role to play in supporting courts in monitoring and addressing RED, and where appropriate, holding courts accountable to standards promoting racial equity. This webinar, presented by the Justice Initiatives team at American University, will review core strategies pertinent to all states to address RED, and, recognizing each state’s unique context also provide statewide leaders with a chance to assess and determine their role in identifying and addressing RED in their state.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe strategies statewide leadership have developed to reduce disparities.
- Analyze your state’s unique context and your office’s role in addressing RED.
- Develop a statewide RED goal.
Zephi Francis, M.S.
Project Director | American University
Washington, D.C.
Zephi Francis is a Project Director in the School of Public Affairs and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Sociology at American University. Since 2017, he has been involved in research on treatment court operations, including investigating racial and ethnic disparities in programs. Zephi led the development and deployment of the Racial and Ethnic Disparities (RED) Program Assessment Tool (https://redtool.org/), which is a web-based assessment to assist treatment courts identify and alleviate racial and ethnic disparities in their systems and processes. Currently, he oversees the Racial and Ethnic Disparities Initiative (REDI) funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. REDI is a project that utilizes research, policy development, and training and technical assistance (TTA) to work with justice system stakeholders to make treatment courts more inclusive. Zephi’s research has been published in the Drug Court Review, the Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, and Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly.
Matthew Collinson, M.H.S.
Project Director | American University
Washington, D.C.
Matt Collinson is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Affairs’ department of Justice Law and Criminology at American University (AU), where he teaches an undergraduate class on the history and purpose of the legal system, and a graduate level course on pre-trial justice, jails, bail and risk assessments. All his classes explore the role of racism and racial bias in the administration of justice, and challenge students to fight for a more equitable, less racist and radically reimagined system of justice. Matt for his “day job” is a Project Director for Justice Initiatives in the School of Public Affairs. In this role, Matt directs several translational research and training and technical assistance (TTA) projects focused on addressing racial disparities in treatment courts across the country. This work includes using AU’s Racial and Ethnic Disparities Program Assessment Tool to help courts to understand how their current policies and practices may be unintentionally contributing to racially biased outcomes, and then developing unique and tailored training and technical assistance programs for courts, jurisdictions and states to reduce racism, disparities and bias in their programs.