Tag: Department of Juvenile Services

Juvenile Services Department allots $8.5 million for out-of-state placements

The Juvenile Services Department’s so-called “Maryland model” aims to reduce reliance on out-of-state treatment facilities for youth sentenced in juvenile court but has set aside about $8.5 million to send less than a score of them to centers across the U.S. over the next three years. The Board of Public Works last week approved four contracts to send up to 18 youth, ages 6-20 years old, to residential treatment facilities (RTCs) in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida and Arkansas.

Read More

Maryland advocates eye Missouri model as juvenile justice solution

Ask some Maryland leaders interested in juvenile justice what they think of the state’s system, and they say it’s not working. Ask them how they’d reform it, and many point to the model used in Missouri. In Missouri, less than 10% of delinquents return to the Division of Youth Services within three years after release from a treatment facility. In Maryland, 56% are rearrested within three years.

Read More

Senators fight over group homes for juveniles

Another fight over state-funded juvenile group homes ignited on the Senate floor Tuesday, with a bill to give private operators more time to meet the requirement that their workers be certified to take care of troubled youth.

The operators had been given five years to have their staff certified by 2015, but they are seeking another year to meet the requirement. Declining state reimbursement, combined with this unfunded mandate, could put some of them out of business, some said.

Read More

Budget analysts: Governor’s budget shortchanges Juvenile Services

The governor’s proposed 2012 budget underfunds the Department of Juvenile Services by $7.2 million, according to an analysis unveiled last week.

The analysis by the Department of Legislative services, presented to the House Appropriations Committee Friday, says that Gov. Martin O’Malley’s budget overestimates the amount of money the state will receive from the federal government and underestimates the amount of money needed to pay employees for overtime. The Department of Juvenile Services, which the O’Malley administration calls “undoubtedly one of the most troubled agencies,” is budgeted at more than $277 million for 2012.

Read More

DeVore tells Joint Audit Committee he’s been fixing problems

Outgoing Juvenile Services Secretary Donald DeVore told the legislature’s Joint Audit Committee Tuesday that when he received the findings of a scathing audit that exposed a host of large problems with record-keeping, financial management, contracts, monitoring and personnel in his department, he didn’t get defensive.

Instead, DeVore got to work.

Read More

Harsh audit of Juvenile Services Department finds millions in federal aid lost, contracts without proper approval, and employees and contractors overpaid

scathing audit of the Department of Juvenile Services exposed a host of large problems with recordkeeping, financial management, contracts, monitoring and personnel, including the loss of $3 million in federal Medicaid funds. Treatment funds were not recovered, $148 million in contracts did not get the proper approval, millions in other contracts were overpaid and ineligible employees got overtime pay or were paid twice.

The problems are so many and so severe that the General Assembly’s Joint Audit Committee plans a hearing on the report next month, its staff said.

Read More
Loading

Support Our Work!

We depend on your support. A generous gift in any amount helps us continue to bring you this service.

Facebook