County commissions press for mental-health services, restorative fidelity and online-safety education for youth

Carlotta Woodward and Melissa Gohman, co-chairs of the Montgomery County Commission on Juvenile Justice, told the HHS committee that the county lacks accessible, community-based residential and nonresidential mental-health services for justice-involved youth and that an inpatient substance-use treatment program for adolescents is missing.

"There are children who need specialized mental health services who are being placed in detention environments because of the lack of accessible, effective community-based residential and non residential mental health services," Woodward said, citing a Maryland Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit report and calling the current practice "highly inappropriate and obviously harmful." She and co-chair Gohman said the county should avoid relying on out-of-county facilities for core treatment capacity.

Gohman said the commission supports investing in whole-school restorative approaches but cautioned that implementation must have fidelity: without consistent training and buy-in from school principals and staff, restorative programs can be uneven and risk becoming a "box-checking exercise." The commission recommended more full-time restorative justice specialists and systemwide investment so programs achieve intended outcomes.

The Commission on Children and Youth (Ms. Yao) identified online safety and technology safeguards for young people and naloxone education as FY priorities, and urged better civic-engagement pathways and youth-led data collection to inform policy.

Councilmembers discussed mapping resources, seeking training materials for state agencies, and requested the commissions provide additional documentation and examples of programs that work. No formal actions were taken during the meeting.