Sun Highlights Need for Juvenile Justice Reform
The Baltimore Sun examines how, despite significant resources and attention over the past eight years from two governors, Maryland's juvenile justice reform remains dysfunctional. Read more >>
State Can Afford To Improve Aftercare Services For Youth
The vast majority of Maryland youth leaving juvenile facilities commit new offenses, often within less than a year. One clear solution is to improve the services received by the youth once they return to their communities. A new fiscal analysis by Advocates for Children and Youth shows how Maryland can afford to improve public safely by improving aftercare. A second report provides a roadmap for effective aftercare. Read more>>
Bold Efforts to Reduce Minority Arrests
School-based police will get training in strategies to improve student behavior without disproportionate arrest of minority youth, under legislation passed by the General Assembly and sponsored by Del. Craig Rice and Sen. Catherine Pugh. This will help create a fair and effective national model based on the efforts of Connecticut and Clayton County, Georgia.
MST Expanded; Replication of Victor Cullen Delayed
The Governor funded a much needed expansion of Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST), a proven program for rehabilitating delinquent youth in their homes. In a joint press conference with Advocates for Children and Youth, Juvenile Services Secretary Donald DeVore, announced that the Department will increase from 5 to 25 the number of MST slots in Prince George’s County. The Governor also delayed building two new juvenile jails until the Victor Cullen program is tweaked, with the help of experts in the Missouri Practice Model. Read more >>
Police Can Reduce Student Misbehavior Without Arrest
Maryland can become a leader in reducing racial disparities in student arrests by training police in: the availability and effectiveness of alternatives to arrests; the use of objective risk assessments and arrest protocols; and understanding of youth development across diverse cultures, ethnicities and races. Read more >>
Multi-Systemic Therapy Boost Gets National Attention
At a joint press conference, Advocates for Children and Youth and the Department of Juvenile Services supported expansion of Multi-Systemic Therapy, a proven, cost-effective program for rehabilitating delinquent youth. The Department announced a significant expansion of MST in Prince George’s County. The announcement received national attention, in USA Today. Read more >>
Protecting Safety, Saving Money: Prince George’s County
More than 50 percent of delinquent youth currently placed in residential programs by Prince George’s County Juvenile Court are better served by Multi-Systemic Therapy, a proven in-home treatment program. This is the finding of an unprecedented review of juvenile court records by Advocates for Children and Youth. Read more >>
Cheltenham Death Confirms Need for Better Services
In a letter in The Baltimore Sun, Advocates for Children and Youth explains how a tragic death at a juvenile facility shows the need for proven services that rehabilitate youth, whether in the community or a residential program. Read more >>
Juvenile Recidivism Remains Catastrophically High
The Governor's budget book reveals continued high recidivism for juveniles, despite a large increase in funding--56 percent of youth are re-arrested within a year. Read more >>
Times Highlights Youth Helped by Multi-Systemic Therapy
The Sunday New York Times features a youth with a long delinquent history, made worse by a stay in one of New York City's juvenile jails. He was rehabilitated by Multi-Systemic Therapy, which provided intensive help to him and his family. Maryland is using MST, but the majority of youth are still sent to juvenile facilities with high failure rates. Read more >>
Frederick News-Post Challenges Victor Cullen as Flagship
In a power editorial, the Frederick News-Post noted that series design flaws and poor performance at the Victor Cullen Center make it ill-suited for replication and "may just be the tip of the iceberg for greater problems statewide." Read more >>
Juvenile Jail Seeks To Expand Beyond Recommended Size
Silver Oak Academy, the privately-run juvenile facility at the edge of Maryland, seeks to grow beyond its current size and opposes a legislative limit of 48-beds, supported by Advocates for Children and Youth. According to research, delinquent youth need to be served close enough to their homes to permit whole-family treatment and seamless re-entry back into their communities. Excessively large facilities serve children from too far away for this to happen effectively and have high recidivism rates. Read more >>
Governor Expands Community Services, Delays New Jails
Evidence-based community services will grow modestly under the Governor's proposed budget. Meanwhile, funding for two new juvenile jails is delayed, giving more time to come up with better residential programming. Read more >>
New York City Merges Juvenile Services into Child Welfare
New York City will better protect public safety by having the child welfare system address the needs of delinquent youth and their families. Read more >>
Maryland Youth Report Sexual Abuse in Juvenile Facility
Three out of ten youth said they were the victims of sexual abuse at a Maryland juvenile facility, prompting an independent investigation. Read more >>
New York Times Pushes Missouri's Juvenile Model
In an editorial, The New York Times strongly supported small, regional juvenile facilities that involve parents in the therapeutic process and help young people with drug treatment, education or job placement after release. Read more >>
Legislators To Address School-Based Arrest Disparities
Despite the State’s fiscal situation, there are significant low- and no-cost opportunities to improve services for children. As state legislators convene in Annapolis, delegates and senators will consider strategies to end racial disparities in school-based arrests. Read more >>
Media Exposes Flaws at Waxter Center for Girls
Two recent articles highlight the poor conditions at the Waxter Center for juvenile girls. But while the State wants to rebuild the facility, the research shows that girls should be treated along with their families and near to the communities to which they will return. There are cost-effective ways to do this, and the alternatives are even more costly to public safety and the taxpayer.
Report Finds No Benefit in Juvenile Jails
A new report by the MacArthur Foundation found that stays in expensive institutional placements produced no measurable results. Even for youth found guilty of serious offenses, the research shows that institutional placement appears to have no advantage over probation in reducing rates of re-arrest or self-reported offending. Read more >>
Sun Warns Against Replicating Failed Victor Cullen Model
A Sun editorial said that the State should not replicate the failed model for juveniles at the Victor Cullen Center. An accompanying ACY letter concurred. Read more >>
Staggering Failure Rate at State’s Flagship Juvenile Facility
Ninety-percent of youth successfully discharged from Victor Cullen Center were rearrested within 16 months. Advocates for Children and Youth has repeatedly warned about the threat to public safety caused by Victor Cullen’s poor programming, long distance from families and lack of aftercare. Missouri has a 90-percent success rate with the very same type of youth. Read more >>
Youth Reentry Receives National Attention
Advocates for Children and Youth joined advocates from across the country on Capitol Hill to discuss effective reentry strategies for youth returning to their communities from out-of-home placements. During the Congressional Briefing, hosted by Maryland U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin, a new report, Back On Track: Supporting Youth Reentry from Out-of-Home Placement to the Community, was released. ACY recently raised the need for Maryland to employ good aftercare at state hearings in Annapolis. Read more >>
ACY Urges Legislative Committees To Push Aftercare
Invited to testify before the House Judiciary and Senate Judicial Proceedings Committees, ACY urged legislators to ensure that youth leaving residential programs receive services based on measurable performance standards. Read more >>
GPS Flaws May Distract from More Effective Services
As WBAL-TV exposed further flaws in the GPS system for juveniles, ACY said focus should not be lost on community services that have stronger impact on public safety. Read more >>
Louisiana Set To Replicate Missouri's Juvenile Model
Louisiana is building a new juvenile facility based on the Missouri model, which is considered the best in the nation. Maryland is not using the Missouri model for a new facility in Baltimore City at $1.4 million per bed, more than 4 times what Louisiana is spending. Read more >>
Despite Success, Funding Still Short for Community Services
Juvenile and criminal justice officials, including Juvenile Services Secretary Donald DeVore, and community providers proclaim success of community and home-based services despite limited funding. Read more >>
Legislation May Ease Police-School Communication, But For What Purpose?
Legislators may allow police and school officials to share more information about delinquent youth but will this result in earlier interventions or just labeling children? Read more >>
ABC News Highlights Missouri Practice Model
ABC News gives primetime attention to Missouri's cost-effective approach to rehabilitating delinquent children, a model Maryland is choosing not to follow. Read more >>
Law Enforcement Leaders Support Multi-Systemic Therapy
In testimony before Congress, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a group of more than 5,000 law enforcement officials, declared its strong support for expansion of Multi-Systemic Therapy and two other programs that are proven to rehabilitate delinquent children. For the testimony >>
Health Officials Link Truancy and Delinquency After Study
Evidence of truancy as early as the first grade should be the first sign that a child needs intervention to avoid a violent future, according to the Baltimore City Department of Health, after the release of a study by the Department. Read more >>
Missouri Model Saved "Billions;" Why Not Good for Maryland?
Missouri's juvenile justice system has saved the state "billions" in reduced adult incarceration, but Maryland resists replicating this successful model. Read more >>
ACY Letter Questions Money for Prisons, Not Public Safety
Despite fiscally dire times, Maryland is building juvenile jails, rather than expanding services that rehabilitate delinquent youth. Read more >>
Recidivism Cut in Half at California Facility
Santa Clara County, California, has sharply reduced recidivism at a juvenile facility, using the Missouri Practice Model, according to a report by a respected national group. ACY is trying to bring this model to Maryland. Read more >>
Republican Leader Calls for New Juvenile Services Leadership
House Minority Leader Tony O'Donnell said that the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services needs new leadership because of failed reform efforts. Read more >>
Legislators Call for Hearings in Wake of Stalled Reforms
Senior legislators plan hearings this fall to talk about failed juvenile justice reform efforts, exposed recently by inadequate services for youth in the community and inside facilities. Read more >>
Monitor Confirms Continued Problems at Juvenile Facility
A new report says that problems, initially identified by Advocates for Children and Youth, persist at Victor Cullen. Read more >>
GPS Doesn't Track Youth Well Or Provide Needed Services
GPS devices provided to youth have serious tracking flaws, and youth are not receiving services needed for rehabilitation. Read more >>
Sun Blasts New Juvenile Jail, Warns Against Large Facilities
In a strongly worded editorial The Baltimore Sun called a new juvenile justice facility a “dangerous” return to a failed model--large facilities where youth are housed too far away from their families to be rehabilitated. The Maryland Juvenile Justice Coalition has repeatedly expressed its concerns that the State did not go through the proper statement of need process and has not adequately justified the Silver Oak Academy, which is only 10 miles from another facility, Victor Cullen, in the same corner of the State. Read more >>
Kudos! New Aftercare Grant
The Department of Juvenile Services received a new federal grant to provide services for Baltimore City youth after they leave juvenile facilities.
Racial Disparities Widen in Youth Arrests in Maryland
African-American youth in Maryland are being arrested at a much higher rate than white youth, and this gap has widened considerably, according to new data obtained and analyzed by Advocates for Children and Youth. The study also includes the results of extensive interviews with Disproportionate Minority Contact coordinators across the State, who identified specific strategies to divert youth into early intervention services. Read more >>
New Juvenile Facility Approved; Treasurer Opposes Expansion
Rite of Passage, a Nevada-based company, received a contract to open a new 48-bed juvenile facility in Carroll County. The Board of Public Works approved the contract despite significant, unresolved concerns identified by the Maryland Juvenile Justice Coalition about the process by which the contract was granted and the need for a new facility. While voting for the contract, State Treasurer Nancy Kopp said that she would not support an expansion beyond 48 beds.
Victor Cullen Unrest, Escapes Show Program Flaws
Fourteen youth escaped from the State’s new flagship juvenile jail, Victor Cullen, after staff tried to end a youth’s phone call. The reaction—taking away pre-apprenticeship tools and teaching staff better ways to physically restrain youth—does not go to sources of the problem. Families are so far away from Victor Cullen that they can not be an effective part of the rehabilitative process. Youth view staff as guards instead of caseworkers interested in their future. Under the effective Missouri Model, unrest and escapes are much less likely because youth are focused on day-one on a successful return to their communities. Yet, Maryland is not implementing this model, and the results so far are high recidivism and a seemingly out-of-control facility. Read more >>
Youth Didn't Need To Go To Juvenile Facilities: ACY Study
More than 40 percent of delinquent youth in Maryland who are currently sent to residential programs can be better served by Multi-Systemic Therapy, a proven in-home treatment program. This is the finding of an unprecedented review of court records by Advocates for Children and Youth. The result is more than double the figure used by the Department of Juvenile Services in planning for future expansion. Read more >>
Advocate Calls for Programs To Avoid Juvenile Confinement
Hathaway Ferebee, head of the Baltimore Safe & Sound Campaign, called for the creation of the Youth Works Compact, in which surplus funds are invested in specific programs for children and families that produce savings from reduced need for juvenile confinement. Read more >>
New York Times Highlights Missouri Practice Model
Once again, the national spotlight is focused on the Missouri practice model, where small, regional facilities provide intensive services to youth during confinement and after release, resulting in "one of the lowest recidivism rates in the country." States replicating this approach are seeing remarkable cost savings, in addition to improved public safety. Read more >>
Contrary to Promises and Policy, New Juvenile Facility Licensed
The Department of Juvenile Services licensed a new private facility on the grounds of the former Bowling Brook Academy, which closed after a youth was killed by guards in 2007. It is not clear that the new facility will treat youth currently out of state, as purported, and the Department did not follow the required licensing process or fulfill promises made to the Board of Public Works about how it would consider the proposal. Read more >>
Poor Outcomes Continue in Maryland’s Juvenile System
Despite an infusion of more than $100 million in additional funding—an increase of nearly 60 percent—the success of Maryland’s juvenile justice system has not improved and remains poor, even at the State's new flagship facility. In an editorial, The Baltimore Sun noted the study by Advocates for Children and Youth and the "slow going" of juvenile justice reform in Maryland. Read more >>
Secretary Wants Evidence-Based Practices As "The Hallmark"
Juvenile Services Secretary Donald DeVore said that he wants evidence-based services in the community to be "the hallmark" of his administration, speaking to the State Advisory Board for Juvenile Services. The Secretary further indicated his support for these practices, such as Multi-Systemic Therapy and Functional Family Therapy, on The Marc Steiner Show.
Juvenile Agency Miscounts Need for Community Services
In a long-delayed analysis, the Department of Juvenile Services made numerous mistakes in calculating the need for Multi-Systemic Therapy and other evidence-based community services. Additional errors resulted in an overestimate of the need for secure residential beds. Using the preliminary findings from an unprecedented study, Advocates for Children and Youth examines how the Department’s analysis could result in wasted money and reduced public safety. Read more >>
How To Quickly Expand Multi-Systemic Therapy: Lessons
By learning from other states, Maryland can expand Multi-Systemic Therapy, a proven community-based program that cost-effectively rehabilitates delinquent youth, with great speed, while maintaining quality. Florida sent well-prepared teams into counties and used performance-based contract to ensure results. Several states are using federal Medicaid to offset much of the cost. California built comprehensive county-level partnerships to overcome implementation barriers. By using these tools, Maryland can most quickly address the significant unmet need for MST. Read more >>
Proposed Juvenile Justice Reform Strategy Pays For Itself
Maryland can expand evidence-based community services for delinquent youth and use the proven Missouri Practice Model in facilities for higher risk youth, at no extra cost to the State, according to a new fiscal analysis by Advocates for Children and Youth. The expense of community services is more than offset by reduced residential placements needed because of improve public safety. Read more >>
Coalition Questions Need for More Juvenile Facilities
The Maryland Juvenile Justice Coalition challenged a claim by the Department of Juvenile Services that it needs to place an additional 100 youth in secure residential facilities, saying that the Department did not follow the legal process or demonstrate the need. The Coalition expressed its concern that the proposed action would jeopardize public safety and take up resources better used elsewhere. Read more >>
Sun Puts Spotlight on Multi-Systemic Therapy
In its Sunday Close-Up feature, The Baltimore Sun profiled the Langstons, a family who successfully participated in Multi-Systemic Therapy after the teenage son became involved in the juvenile justice system. This article gives significant attention and a personal face to a practice that saves money and improves public safety. Read more >>
Sun Supports Expansion of Multi-Systemic Therapy
In an editorial, The Baltimore Sun commended Juvenile Services Secretary Donald DeVore for redirecting funds from an ineffective residential program to more Multi-Systemic Therapy services for Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Read more >>
Group Home Licensing Process in Limbo
Beginning October 1, 2008, the Departments of Human Resources and Juvenile Services must issue geographically-specific statements of needs before licensing any new group home. To date, neither Department has issued regulations needed to implement the new requirements. As a result, the licensing process is in limbo. Read more >>
Juvenile Monitor Confirms Flaws At Victor Cullen
The independent Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit has confirmed the previous findings of Advocates for Children and Youth that the State’s new Victor Cullen facility for delinquent youth suffers from significant programmatic flaws. Juvenile Services Secretary Donald DeVore told ACY that Mark Steward, one of the founders of the proven Missouri Practice Model, has recently visited Victor Cullen. The Department also said it was adding “transition specialists” to Victor Cullen. These are important initial steps in bringing best practices to Victor Cullen and creating a model ready for replication elsewhere in the State. Read more >>
Missouri Practice Model Wins National Award
The Missouri Practice Model just received Harvard’s Innovations in American Government award. ACY has found that Maryland is not implementing critical elements of the Missouri model. Read more >>
Department Commits to Rigorous Review of Proposed Group Home
After vigorous efforts by Advocates for Children and Youth and questioning by State Treasurer Nancy Kopp, the Department of Juvenile Services agreed to a rigorous and transparent review of a proposal to open a large group home on the former site of Bowling Brook. Read more >>
Youth Confinement Spike Erases Year's Progress
A significant increase in confinement of delinquent youth this spring erased an entire year of serving more youth in the community. Warehousing lower risk youth with other, more delinquent youth poses significant risks to public safety. Read more >>
Juveniles Complete Pre-Apprenticeship Program
The first wave of youth at Victor Cullen, the State’s flagship juvenile facility, completed a pre-apprenticeship program. Vocational training is one aspect of the proven Missouri Practice Model. However, it is not clear how many of the graduating youth have jobs, and Victor Cullen still needs to implement many critical elements of the model. Read more >>
Two Detention Facilities Exit Federal Monitoring
Juvenile detention facilities at Cheltenham and Hickey have improved enough to exit federal monitoring. However, the U.S. Department of Justice will continue its monitoring of the troubled Baltimore Juvenile Justice Center. As pointed out in a Sun editorial, the ultimate goal is having few youth in these facilities.
Maryland Deviates from Best Practice in Juvenile Justice
According to a new analysis from Advocates for Children and Youth, Maryland is not using best practices—those used in the successful Missouri Model—in revamping its juvenile treatment centers. The report amplifies the findings in the most recent report from the state’s independent juvenile justice monitor which described the programming and treatment at Victor Cullen as “not yet adequately implemented.” Read more >>
Youth In Community Need Supervision and Services
In the lead letter in the Sunday Baltimore Sun, Advocates for Children and Youth pointed out that increased supervision of youth in the community will not improve public safety unless there are also services provided to youth to help them stay out of trouble. An ACY study previously found that youth in the community were not receiving these services, thereby creating a cycle of delinquency. Read more >>
Judge O'Malley Links School Truancy to Delinquency
Volunteering at a truancy court, Judge Katie O'Malley said there is a direct correlation between school truancy and those she sees in her court as criminal defendants. "It's sort of depressing in District Court, seeing the defendants I see after they've failed in school, become addicted to alcohol or drugs, gotten into prostitution or theft," said Judge O'Malley, also Maryland's First Lady. Read more >>
Mentoring Program Enjoys Media Spotlight
"Mentoring Male Teens in the Hood," organized by ACY's own Cameron Miles, received front page attention after a successful trip to Connecticut. Read more >>
Pressure Mounts for Balanced Juvenile Justice Reform
Three of Baltimore’s four major TV stations covered a rally for balanced juvenile justice reform, the same week that the Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Baltimore Sun, prominent ministers and former Howard County Police Chief Jim Robey came out in support of maximizing the use of evidence-based community services and using the proven Missouri practice model for youth who need residential services. Read more >>
State of Maryland's Kids: Juvenile Justice
The State continues to pour more money into juvenile facilities that have catastrophic failure rates. The Governor can best improve public safety through Multi-Systemic Therapy and other evidence-based practices that rehabilitate children with their families and in their communities. The cycle of delinquency is illustrated by Farron Tates, now charged with murder after repeated arrests but no services. Tyrone Langston is an example of how proven interventions can produce success. Read more >>
Legislators Put Brake on Juvenile Jails: Session Wrap Up
Legislators froze funding for two proposed new juvenile facilities until they can review a facilities master plan and gap analysis by the Department of Juvenile Services. This provides an opportunity to minimize the unnecessary use of juvenile jails. Unfortunately, the FY 2009 budget includes large increases in funding for juvenile jails but hardly any additional resources for evidence-based community services that improve public safety and save money. Read more >>
Detention Violence Confirms Need for Community Alternatives
Increased violence in Baltimore City's juvenile detention facility can be addressed by expanding evidence-based community services. "When you detain low-risk young people, usually it increases their chances of future delinquent behavior," said Angela Johnese, Juvenile Justice Director at Advocates for Children and Youth, in a Sun article that discussed an ACY study linking increased delinquency to lack of detention alternatives. Read more >>
Non-Family Residential Care for Youth Linked to Delinquency; Costing 50 Percent More
Advocates for Children and Youth released an issue brief about a new study finding that abused and neglected children in group placements are two-and-a-half times as likely to be arrested as comparable children in foster homes. The issue brief also shows how Maryland has increased spending on group care by 50 percent over the past four years. Read more >>
"Troubled Life" Confirms Finding of ACY Delinquency Study
As reported in The Baltimore Sun, Farron Tates was arrested and returned repeatedly to the community without getting any services. This is the general pattern, revealed in a study by Advocates for Children and Youth. The Department of Juvenile Services agrees it needs to know more about families in order to "trigger additional services." The solution, as explained in a Sun editorial: "expand the intensive, in-home family therapy programs that have saved juvenile offenders here and elsewhere in the country from a recurring and devastating cycle of crime." Read more >>
Your Support Needed Now for a Balanced Reform Plan
Please email the Governor and legislative leaders today—make sure the State invests in evidence-based community practices that improve safety and save money. Act now >>
Department Underestimates Need for Community Services
In response to emails from advocates, Juvenile Services Secretary Donald DeVore said he wants to expand evidence-based community services and recognizes that that "they have proven over time to have great success working with at-risk kids." However, the Department of Juvenile Services has significantly underestimated the need for these services, according to an analysis by Advocates for Children and Youth. Read more >>
Community Services Pay for Themselves, Two Reports Find
A New York City initiative to provide in-home therapy is sharply reducing recidivism at a fraction of the cost of residential programs, according to The New York Times. Meanwhile, the Maryland Department Legislative Services determined that expanding Multi-Systemic Therapy would at the very least pay for itself. Read more >>
Court Review: Lack of Services Causes Juvenile Detention
Advocates for Children and Youth conducted an extensive review of court records to examine Maryland’s use of detention. For the full issue brief, click here.
Lack of Services Causes Juvenile Detention, ACY Study Finds
Youth end up in a cycle of delinquency in Maryland because of a failure to link them to existing community supports and interventions, according to a review of court records by Advocates for Children and Youth. Fully using these evidence-based programs, like Multi-Systemic Therapy, can save $20 million in the first year alone, based on a new budget analysis ACY completed with the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute. Read more >>
Sun Supports Expansion of Multi-Systemic Therapy
The Baltimore Sun said that Maryland needs to invest in Multi-Systemic Therapy and Functional Family Therapy, even as it tries to improve services to the few youth who need residential programs. Read more >>
State Signs Juvenile Justice Compact
The Department of Juvenile Services is backing a research-based, effective means of intervening with youth and their families. Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST) has greatly lowered juvenile recidivism rates where it has been tried, at sharply lower costs than incarceration. Now Baltimore County has signed a five-year compact for an MST program that will result in fewer children being sent to juvenile facilities and address family and other problems that often underlying delinquent behavior. Read more >>
Sun Endorses PBIS Expansion; City Reduces Suspensions
The Baltimore Sun, in an editorial, praised Baltimore City schools CEO Andres Alonso for reducing school suspensions and called on him to expand PBIS as a "proven" alternative to suspensions. Read more >>
June 14th: March for Balanced Juvenile Justice Reform
Advocates for Children and Youth and other sponsors marched on June 14th in support of balanced juvenile justice reform that saves money and improves public safety. Read more >>
