A Maryland reform school for juvenile delinquents has graduated three students and failed 23 in the 10 months since its opening.
The Maryland Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit released a report this week saying Silver Oak Academy in Carroll County has a “high” rate of failure. The watchdog group interviewed staff and boarding juveniles and reported the children are not fed adequately, staff “commonly” use physical restraint and “strenuous exercise is used as punishment.”
The Department of Juvenile Services, which licenses the facility, said Silver Oak is “just beginning to see the outcomes of the average nine-month length of stay,” in a written response to the study.
The all-boys boarding facility opened in July 2009. It is privately owned and operated by Rite of Passage Inc., a company that finances youth facilities.
The Department of Juvenile Services said students are served three meals and two snacks each day, and any staff member that uses physical restraint “have been disciplined, retrained or terminated.”
