Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services has suspended sending young offenders to a residential treatment center in Rockville after neighbors complained for months that they felt unsafe.
The move comes six months after the state stopped sending juvenile sex offenders to the Karma Academy after three teenagers escaped and neighbors voiced concerns.
The center, a 13-bed treatment facility on Watts Branch Parkway, has four residents, but the state is looking to move them to another location shortly, according to Ronald Rivlin, who oversees the program for the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.
Neighbors in the fall said they were concerned about a perceived lack of security and supervision at the facility and that they hadn’t been told previously that sex offenders lived there.
Neighbors said problems persisted after the sex offenders were removed, including a possible sexual assault between residents.
“When you add the continued escapes/runaways that have continued since December 2009 … there is absolutely no way this situation can continue,” neighbor Nick Abid wrote to state and local officials.
Officials from Karma’s parent company could not be reached for comment. But in previous statements, Chief Executive Roger Larson said the facility had operated for 22 years without “any issues.”
Del. Luiz Simmons, who lives near Karma, said the center was “under the microscope” and didn’t do themselves any favors by “failing to control” its residents.
The offenders who lived at Karma were deemed “low-risk” but had “higher needs,” said Department of Juvenile Services spokesman Jay Cleary.
Cleary said the department will conduct a through review of the academy before deciding whether to lift the suspension or close the center down permanently.
“Shutting it down is one of the possible options,” he said.
Rivlin said no decisions about the center’s future will be made without input from all parties, including nearby homeowners.
