Tag: Department of Juvenile Services

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

by | June 13, 2012 | | 0 |

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.

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Maryland advocates eye Missouri model as juvenile justice solution

by | May 31, 2011 | | 0 |

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.

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Senators fight over group homes for juveniles

by | March 23, 2011 | | 1 |

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.

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Budget analysts: Governor’s budget shortchanges Juvenile Services

by | March 2, 2011 | , | 0 |

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.

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DeVore tells Joint Audit Committee he’s been fixing problems

by | December 15, 2010 | | 0 |

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.

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

by | October 6, 2010 | , | 0 |

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.

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