Disparity in Treatment of Girls, Boys by Maryland Department of Juvenile Services
About 80 percent of girls accused of misdemeanors in Maryland were committed to residential treatment centers compared to 50 percent of boys, according to statistics from Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services (DJS).
The statistics, part of the Female Offenders Report, show more than two-thirds of girls sent to residential treatment centers were committed for offenses such as fighting and shoplifting or for drug offenses.
“That disparity between boys and girls is troubling and quite large,” Juvenile Services Secretary Sam Abed told Capital News Service. “It’s something I’m concerned about. It’s a very complicated question, but it’s something that merits explanation.”
The Maryland Legislature in 2011 passed a law requiring DJS to provide statistics breaking down services for boys and girls. Lawmakers grew concerned because DJS has the authority to make decisions about how youth committed to the juvenile justice system are treated.
Baltimore Freedom Academy and UM Carey Law Partner to Teach Juvenile Justice
Most people don't think of lawyers as teachers. But in the view of Professor Susan Leviton, JD, that's exactly what they should be. "To be a lawyer," says Leviton, who directs the Juvenile Law, Children's Issues and Legislative Advocacy Clinic at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, "you have to be able to tell somebody what they need to know very quickly and very succinctly." Through the clinic, Leviton's students learn to be better teachers and better lawyers.
The clinic began with a more traditional juvenile justice focus, representing children in the juvenile court system. Leviton and her students discovered, however, that their clients suffered from greater problems than simply an encounter with the courts: they didn't know how to navigate the system, to advocate for themselves, and sometimes even to make eye contact. Leviton wanted a way to intervene before the children's lives were harmed. That's where the Baltimore Freedom Academy (BFA) comes in. BFA, a citywide public charter school serving grades 6 to 12, was founded by Khalilah Harris, a 2001 graduate of UM Carey Law.
DC black students expelled at greater rate than white students
Black students in the DC area are being suspended and expelled from school 2 to 5 times as often as white students. This disturbing fact has big implications for youth and the juvenile justice system.
A new analysis by The Washington Post found that almost 6 percent of black students were suspended or expelled from school last year, compared with 1.2 percent of white students. Across the country, 15 percent of black students were suspended, compared with five percent of white students, 7 percent of Hispanics and 3 percent of Asians.
In many states, students are suspended not only for violent acts but also for disrespect, defiance, insubordination, disruption and bad language. These infractions are subjective and give educators a lot of leeway in deciding when to report students.
As The Washington Post explains:
The stakes are high for those who get booted out of school.
Out-of-school suspensions mean lost classroom time and, for some, disconnection from school. A recent landmark study of nearly a million Texas children showed that suspension increased the likelihood of repeating a grade that year and landing in the juvenile-justice system the next year. It also was linked to dropping out.
Maryland's juvenile justice system is now a little more transparent
Recently signed legislation in Maryland requires the state’s Department of Juvenile Services to report the recidivism rates for each juvenile in residential treatment, broken down by program and placement. This is excellent news for juvenile justice reform in Maryland.
According to an analysis by Maryland’s Department of Legislative Services, this reporting will not cost any additional taxpayer dollars, and yet the citizens of Maryland will receive two huge benefits. First, the legislature and the public will now have easy access to data on recidivism, broken down by type of program. This is a key reform because general recidivism rates can mask the success and failures of different programs, and particularized data is necessary to make informed legislative choices.
Second, the simple act of being required to report this data to the Maryland legislators will put the onus on Maryland’s juvenile justice stakeholders to improve their system. By having to publicly state their Department’s outcomes annually, Maryland will reach new levels of accountability in juvenile justice each year.
This bill is win-win: no additional costs and positive returns for taxpayers and justice in Maryland.
