Juvenile justice commission urges end to automatic adult charges; DJS outlines reforms and data

The Maryland Juvenile Justice Reform and Best Practices Commission recommended that the General Assembly eliminate or sharply restrict automatic charging of children as adults, Commission Chair Andre Davis told the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 22.

"We should comply with federal law because we're required to and it's the right thing to do," Davis said, summarizing the commission's October report and urging a move away from mandatory adult charging that routes children into adult facilities.

Davis said the commission’s analysis — drawing on data from the Vera Institute, DJS, and the Governor's Office of Crime Prevention and Policy — shows roughly 80–88% of children automatically charged in adult court do not ultimately receive adult convictions, with many returned to juvenile court after resource‑intensive reverse‑waiver proceedings. He argued that prolonged stays in adult detention expose children to developmentally inappropriate conditions, undermine educational and treatment access, raise safety concerns, and drain resources that could be redirected to juvenile services.

Committee members pressed for detail about how reversing automatic charging would work in practice, whether it would slow case processing for serious offenses and how costs and judicial roles would change. Davis said judges would retain discretion and that the change would not preclude adult prosecution where warranted; rather, it would place initial review with a judge rather than the automatic routing to adult court. He noted estimates from prior proposals that significant savings could be redirected to juvenile programs.

Acting DJS Secretary Betsy Fox Tolentino told the committee that DJS is addressing facility and operational problems and highlighted steps taken since her appointment six months ago: a $30 million investment in programming, returning roughly 50 positions to residential facilities, a 15% reduction in overtime, expanded contracts for deep cleaning and a new pest‑control vendor (increasing BCJJC service from monthly to biweekly). Tolentino also described new performance reviews, a public data dashboard and efforts to improve intake decisions and community‑based diversion.

Tolentino presented DJS data showing declines in complaints and some early positive indicators: a 6.4% reduction in complaints from FY24 to FY25, an 8% decline in complaints comparing recent 6‑month windows, and year‑to‑date reductions in categories such as misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. She said that in FY25 about 60% of the detention population on any given day were youth initially charged as adults and that the average length of stay for youth charged as adults awaiting transfer was 124 days (range 1–800 days), compared with an average 20‑day detention stay for youth processed in the juvenile system.

Committee members asked DJS about staffing bottlenecks, use of electronic monitoring, wait lists for placements, and the absence of an in‑state staff‑secure program for girls; Tolentino said DJS has an open procurement for a staff‑secure girls program, is modernizing hiring and intake processes to reduce delays (including moving certain psychological screenings to app‑based tools), and plans to expand community‑based reentry supports such as family navigators.

The briefing produced no legislative votes. The commission's policy recommendation and DJS operational commitments were presented for the committee's continued review.