Livingston County’s Juvenile Court is applying for a grant that would support data collection pertaining to minority youth and whether they feel they are treated equally in the juvenile justice system.

The Livingston County Trial Courts, Juvenile Court was recently given approval by the county’s Board of Commissioners to submit the application for the grant. The grant would provide funds to support a comprehensive, integrated data collection system for juvenile probation so the Livingston County Trial Courts can obtain information pertaining to racial and ethnic disparities.

The funding is through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Michigan Committee on Juvenile Justice for the Racial Ethnic Disparities Data Collection Grant. A memo from Juvenile and Probate Court Administrator Deborah Shaw states that the maximum award will not exceed $75,000 per year for two years, and that no county match or cost-sharing is required. If awarded, funding would begin on October 1st.

The Juvenile Court has previously participated in two Michigan Department of Health and Human Services data collection projects which is said to have equipped the court to take the next steps in data collection and analysis.