Despite significant protests, Maryland appears to be moving full steam ahead with a project to construct a new $100 million jail to house youth offenders who are being tried as adults, with a bid conference on the project scheduled for Wednesday. Gov. Martin O'Malley and other leaders are addressing the right problem — the current practice of housing youth offenders in Baltimore's adult detention center — but building a new youth jail is the wrong solution.
Safety for youth at the city detention center is a serious issue. According to the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics, youth under 18 are at heightened risk of physical and sexual assault in adult jails. Youth are also much more likely to commit suicide in an adult jail than in a juvenile detention facility. Because of these risks, the Justice Department's memorandum of understanding with the state of Maryland requires that youth should be separated from adult inmates.
Moreover, states are moving away from the heinous practice of placing youth in adult jails. Next week a new law goes into effect in Virginia that removes youth from adult jails altogether. And legislation pending in Congress, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act (S. 678) approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee with the support of Maryland's Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, would also require the removal of youth from adult jails across the country.
As someone who has visited Baltimore City's detention center and considers it to be one of the worst places to house youth, I believe Governor O'Malley is right to want to improve safety for youth and separate them from adult inmates.
However the governor's plan, proposed by the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and supported by the Department of Juvenile Services, is seriously flawed. The plan proposes that Maryland "build" its way out of the federal memorandum of understanding by constructing this new $100 million youth jail.
The state budget crisis is reason enough to scrap the plan. The idea for the youth jail was hatched five years ago, when the state was flush with money. Now the state is laying off workers and scrapping programs. Fiscal prudence demands another approach.
The youth at the Baltimore City Detention Center have all been charged as adults. However, most of them are routinely returned to the juvenile justice system. This fact alone should give the governor pause. Why are these children in the adult criminal justice system in the first place? Additionally, research undertaken by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention shows that sending youth to adult criminal court increases the likelihood that youth will reoffend. A report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows similar results. If sending youths to the adult criminal justice system produces worse outcomes, why are we spending $100 million to facilitate the practice?
Finally, this is the opportunity for the juvenile justice system in Maryland to re-examine and substantially change its policies and practices that lead to youth being detained unnecessarily and inappropriately in Maryland's juvenile detention facilities. Alternatives to detention can much better serve the purpose of rehabilitation of young offenders at lower cost.
Governor O'Malley has the right instincts to want to protect young people in the justice system and to promote better public safety outcomes in the community. However, He is getting some bad advice. Governor O'Malley should do what the research shows works to reduce juvenile crime and what fiscal responsibility and stewardship warrants: Scrap this flawed plan to build a new $100 million youth jail and instead reinvest these funds in effective alternatives that are proven to work.
Liz Ryan is the president and CEO of the Washington-based Campaign for Youth Justice. Her e-mail is lryan@cfyj.org.