Shelby County and juvenile court officials have hired the head of the oldest juvenile justice research group in the country to analyze data and offer feedback on issues related to minority children. 

Melissa Sickmund, director of the National Center for Juvenile Justice, is known as the “guru of juvenile justice statistics” for her work analyzing data to improve juvenile justice systems on a local and national level.

“The hiring of Dr. Melissa Sickmund is another step in creating more local oversight of these very important juvenile justice issues,” Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said in a press release. “Having data and expert analysis of this data will help with crafting new policies that benefit the kids in our care and the entire community.”

The announcement of Sickmund's hiring comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Justice opting in October to end federal monitoring of juvenile court after six years of oversight.

In the DOJ monitor’s report, the 2012 agreement uncovered due process issues and disproportionate minority contact in which African-American children received harsher treatment than white juveniles for the same offenses.

In another monitor’s report released in December, the report stated that oversight at the court should have not ended because the agency is “deeply flawed,” enabling a “culture of intimidation” undermining due process for African-American children in the system.

Former county mayor Mark Luttrell, former sheriff Bill Oldham and Juvenile Court Judge Dan Michael all pushed to end DOJ oversight. Officials now say hiring Sickmund will provide them with data rather than relying on “generalized assumptions.”

“Since the monitoring work at Juvenile Court by the Department of Justice has ended, we plan to continue building on the improvements we’ve made in the areas of inequality and disproportionate minority contact by using the skills of a national expert who can accurately monitor our numbers and give us independent feedback,” Michael said. “She can provide us with the proof and then help us correct it.”

Sickmund works for the nonprofit Pittsburgh-based National Center for Juvenile Justice, which is the research division of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Michael serves as the 2019 treasurer for the group.

Officials said Sickmund has been hired for six months and will be paid $40,000. After the six-month contract ends June 30, the county has the option to renew her contract for another year and pay her another $40,000.

She is the second independent consultant hired by the county recently. In December, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner hired David Roush, a former DOJ monitor, as a consultant to help make sure the detention center at Juvenile Court stays on track after the end of federal oversight.