Calling it “a symbol of state failure to do its job,” Gov. Martin O?Malley Friday announced plans to rebuild a Baltimore County juvenile detention center as part of a $200 million overhaul of the state?s chronically troubled facilities for young offenders.
O?Malley?s plan includes four new centers, including a $32 million facility on the Parkville grounds of the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School, which was partly closed under Gov. Robert Ehrlich?s administration. There, offenders routinely escape through doors that don?t lock, pipes burst regularly, and buildings that were rendered useless years ago fall into further disrepair, officials said.
“This is really a historic day in the state of Maryland,” said Donald DeVore, secretary of the Department of Juvenile Services. “More importantly, it?s the end of an era in which the Department of Juvenile Services has been forced to provide services in decrepit facilities.”
O?Malley said he plans to also build new facilities in Anne Arundel County, Prince George?s County and the Baltimore area. Each 48-bed facility will serve one of four regions, with Baltimore, Harford, Howard and Carroll counties comprising the region served by the Hickey site.
Baltimore City will be designated a region unto itself, officials said.
“The idea of doing a regionalization plan and taking kids from that region and placing them in a facility in that region is a huge step in the right direction,” said Sen. Bobby Zirkin, a Baltimore County Democrat and defense attorney who often represents juvenile offenders. “It?s a step many of us have been screaming about for years.”
Hickey now houses 56 offenders, and about 125 are in out-of-state facilities at a cost of up to $413 per day, DeVore said. The plan will allow Maryland youth to remain in Maryland for treatment and supervision, he said.
But not everyone is pleased with the plans. Neighbors said Ehrlich promised the center would be transformed into a park.
Now, those hopes appear to be lost.
“We?ve chased kids out of our yard,” said Harold Screen. ” We?re tired of putting up with the jail.”
Some youth advocates said juvenile offenders are better off in community settings, like group homes, than institutions. Matthew Joseph, director of the Baltimore-based Advocates for Children and Youth, said recidivism rates are higher for juveniles who spend time in detention centers.
Joseph said he asked lawmakers to delay construction plans for one year to study alternatives.
“Our current system is actually promoting delinquency, and all this is going to do is have it occur in newer, more expensive facilities,” Joseph said.
