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Lawmakers press DPSCS over delays to state'mandated women's prerelease center as $1.2B treatment center stalls
Summary
Subcommittee members demanded answers from the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services about why the statutorily required women's prerelease center lacks a finalized site and why the Baltimore Therapeutic Treatment Center's estimated cost rose to $1.2 billion. DPSCS said a site had been identified but paused after community objections; advocates urged reauthorization of planning funds.
House members pressed the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services on a pair of stalled, high-visibility capital projects during the Capital Budget Subcommittee hearing.
Deputy Secretary David Green told the panel that DPSCS had identified a site for the statutorily required women's prerelease center (Forest Street) but paused the design step after community advocates raised concerns and because of pending legislation that could change site requirements. "We have identified a site, and we're moving forward with DGS on the various aspects of planning," Green said, describing a pause while the department reevaluates available properties and acquisition costs.
Lawmakers repeatedly pushed back. The chair said the project was mandated to be operational in 2023 and called the current pause "unacceptable," urging DPSCS to accelerate site selection and to work with DGS and community stakeholders to get the project back on track. "We want this to be a priority," the chair said.
Advocates who testified reinforced the urgency. Kevin Slayton of the Maryland Center on Economic Policy told the committee that delays are costly and asked the subcommittee to reauthorize capital planning funds so site work and design can proceed without repeated pauses. "Delays are costly each time they happen," Slayton said. Frank Patanella of the ACLU of Maryland, representing the Baltimore Women's Prerelease Equity Coalition, said the coalition has worked with DPSCS and DGS but warned that deauthorizations will push the timeline further out and urged continued collaboration.
Committee members also pressed DPSCS on the Baltimore Therapeutic Treatment Center (BTTC), a planned therapeutic detention and treatment complex whose estimated cost has risen to about $1.2 billion and is currently sized for 854 beds. At that figure the chair calculated a per-bed cost in the range of roughly $1.4 million. DPSCS said inflation, design changes and evolving scope contributed to cost growth and pledged to provide a comparative per-bed cost analysis and additional detail on construction-tender plans.
DLS had recommended the committee request a reevaluation of BTTC's size and scope; DPSCS acknowledged the recommendation and said it will provide additional cost and contracting information. The department also said that, in December 2025, it achieved compliance with the mental-health component of Duval v. Moore and that the BTTC is not strictly needed to meet that component of the consent decree, though department officials said the facility could reduce future litigation risk.
What happens next: lawmakers demanded follow-up memos and comparative cost data from DPSCS and urged the department, DGS and advocates to collaborate on site selection and design for the women's prerelease center so the project can move into the design and construction phases.
