Story by the daily record: www.mddailyrecord.com
ANNAPOLIS — More than a third of kids failed to complete a treatment program at a center for troubled youth that reopened last year after a resident died in 2007, Maryland’s juvenile justice watchdog group said Wednesday.
Since reopening in July 2009 under new management, three students have successfully completed the program at the Silver Oak Academy in Carroll County, the Maryland Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit said in a report covering January to March.
The monitor noted that the program is new and will take time to develop. However, the report pointed out that 23 of 68 admitted youth have failed the program and been discharged — a 34 percent failure rate.
Youth who do not successfully complete the program are usually returned to a secure detention center while the Department of Juvenile Services looks for another appropriate placement, the report said.
“The department will pay a heavy price at per-diem rates for large numbers of youth who must then start over in a new treatment program,” the monitor said in the report.
Rite of Passage, the Nevada company that runs the program, said the facility is just beginning to see outcomes of the average nine-month stay.
For example, one student received a high school diploma in early April, just days after the period covered by the monitor’s report. The company also said six students successfully passed the GED pretest, and two more are expected to complete their high school diploma requirements in the next quarter.
The company said it agreed with the monitor’s finding that Silver Oak Academy “is still a new program and will take time to develop.”
The academy in Keymar is on the former ground of Bowling Brook Preparatory Academy, which was closed two years ago when a youth died after staff restrained him.
The monitor also said the administration must adequately address the “high number” of cases in which students were absent without leave.
The company said 10 students have been AWOL since the program opened, including three that occurred off site.
“None of these numbers are acceptable and (Rite of Passage) has worked with (the Department of Juvenile Services) and law enforcement to refine procedures,” the company said in its response.
The company noted that failure to follow basic supervision procedures caused most of the runaways. Rite of Passage also said involved staff have been disciplined.
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See The Colonel: MD’s former director of statewide detention facilities – Chris Perkins. Story
Tags: chris perkins, maryland juvenile justice, runaway youth