D = Disproportionate and is based on the assumption that if the society and juvenile justice system are fair and free of bias, youth of color will come into contact with the juvenile justice system at a rate proportionate to their representation in the population. When youth of color represent a higher proportion of those youth in the system than in a given population, their representation is disproportionate or out of proportion with their distribution in the population. When this occurs one of two things are happening:

1) race/ethnicity is impacting treatment in the juvenile justice system, and/or 2) youth of color are committing delinquent offenses (or more serious offenses) at a disproportionate rate.

M = Minority and for DMC the most important aspects of minority status have to do with relative power, wealth, and privilege in society rather than with the number of people sharing a race or ethnicity. Assigned minority status on the basis of race or ethnicity typically includes those who have been colonized in the past. New Mexico has over 500 years of history that includes minority ethnic groups where the degree of subordination experienced has been particularly intense, American Indians, Mexican-Americans, and more recently African-Americans. Common across these designated minority groups is the fact that
(1) the group(s) is different in some way regarded as socially significant from those holding dominant social, political, and economic influence, and
(2) the groups have been historically assigned to subordinate or disadvantaged status.

C = Contact and is used to refer to all points of contact or decision points in the juvenile justice system. Early efforts to address DMC referred to the C as confinement. Since the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 2002 the DMC concept has been broadened and refers to contact. The DMC effort in New Mexico is directed toward resolution at every decision making stage within the juvenile justice system.