Legislative audit finds gaps in oversight, services and data for Maryland juveniles; DJS outlines expansion plans

The House Judiciary Committee heard an Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPAGA) briefing that found gaps in the Department of Juvenile Services’ oversight of community‑based programs, inconsistent intake decisions across counties and limitations in the agency’s case management system, ASSIST. OPAGA Director Mike Powell told the committee, “We work for you,” and summarized an audit focused on children who are DJS‑involved but living in the community rather than in detention or residential facilities.

OPAGA told lawmakers the long‑term pattern of referrals to DJS has fallen from roughly 3,000 per month a decade earlier to about 1,000 per month (and roughly 1,200 per month at the time of the audit), with an abrupt pandemic dip to around 500 per month. Powell said intake outcomes have shifted: fewer cases are being resolved at intake, fewer are being placed on informal pre‑court supervision, and a larger share are being forwarded for prosecution. "If you go back 10 or 15 years, that was about 3,000 referrals a month," Powell said. The audit also found wide jurisdictional variation in intake decisions for similar offenses.

Why it matters: most DJS‑involved youth are served in the community through contracted and non‑contracted providers; OPAGA concluded DJS focuses largely on fiscal compliance and has limited, inconsistent performance data on those providers. The audit found that only about 30 percent of informal (pre‑court) youth had case records showing referrals to DJS‑paid community‑based services and that time from intake to program start often ranged several weeks. Powell said the intake decision tool (IDT) recommendations were followed only about 52 percent of the time, and that DJS lacked clear visibility…