Public Safety Committee Discusses Holes in Juvenile Justice Processing in Montgomery County

Per Montgomery County: “Yesterday, the Montgomery County Council’s Public Safety (PS) Committee held a meeting on juvenile justice, sparked by an increase in some types of juvenile crimes and the identification of a 12-year-old as responsible for multiple bomb threats to Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).

All panelists present suggested that connecting youth to appropriate services and interventions as early as possible should be the primary goal. Yet Councilmember Kristin Mink’s (District 5) questions to police, the State’s Attorney, and the Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) revealed that diversion opportunities, both pre-arrest and post-arrest, have been significantly under-utilized in Montgomery County.

Montgomery County Chief of Police Marcus Jones clarified at the committee meeting that the ability to charge children, recently curtailed by state law, was not his focus: “We have been accused of simply wanting to arrest juveniles as a way of solving the problems of our society. We know that doesn’t work. It’s never worked. But what has worked is intervention and diversion.”

State’s Attorney John McCarthy similarly highlighted the need for services for youth, including pre-arrest interventions: “There might be a point in time – and I think we’re there – where there’s going to be a conversation about whether we here locally should be doing something for kids, maybe even before they’re in the system…We need wraparound services for kids, and quite candidly, we’re at the point where we cannot depend upon the state.”

Yet, Councilmember Mink noted that Montgomery County already has an evidence-based diversion program to connect kids as young as five to services and repair harm outside the courts. The intervention, called Community Conferencing, is used by eight other Maryland jurisdictions, but in Montgomery County, those referrals are not being made.

Community Conferences are dialogues convened by a facilitator to give those who have committed an act of harm and the person(s) harmed an opportunity to discuss the matter and potentially find ways to repair the harm or relationship. If the victim doesn’t wish to participate, there are alternatives, such as a community circle. The youth who committed the harm is also connected to appropriate services.

Referrals can be made pre-arrest or post-arrest by police, schools, State’s Attorneys, DJS or parents/guardians, among others. If the process is not completed, the referral simply goes back to the referring party to move forward in the normal way.

But Montgomery County’s Community Conferencing organization, the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County, expressed frustration to Councilmember Mink last week that they have not received any such referrals despite having partnerships with the Montgomery County Police Department, State’s Attorney, DJS and more. Councilmember Mink asked panelists why that is.

Lisa Garry, deputy secretary, Department of Juvenile Services, said, “For the part of DJS, to tell the truth, use of restorative practice and community conferencing has been under-utilized by our agency, and it’s something that we’re addressing now…So you should see a boost and an increase.”

Carlotta Woodward, chief, Juvenile Court Division of the State’s Attorney’s Office, stated, “I haven’t honestly heard about the Conflict Resolution Center so it’s something that we absolutely can look into and I’d love to contact my counterparts across the state to see how they’re doing it.”

Stepanie Joseph, Office of the Public Defender, said, “I’m happy to work with Ms. Woodward. I helped set up Community Conferencing in some of the other jurisdictions around the state, and when the victims are amenable in cases, I think it’s very much helpful to all parties – those who caused the harm and those who were harmed – because everyone’s coming together. Whereas the court process is often much more adversarial and often not as productive for the victims, and certainly not as effective as Harford County’s website shows us.”

Councilmember Mink had previously noted Harford County’s website states that when all those affected by the incident are included in the outcome, compliance with Community Conferencing agreements is more than 95 percent.

Councilmember Mink requested a follow-up committee meeting on Community Conferencing, expected to include the Public Safety, Education and Culture, and Health and Human Services committees.

Yesterday’s discussion was framed in part by an Oct. 25 press release on the MCPS bomb threats from Chief Jones stating that “the individual responsible for disrupting the educational process and instilling fear in our community was well aware…that they could not be charged under current Maryland statutes.” Recent state-level reforms to juvenile justice include limiting the circumstances under which a child younger than 13 can be charged.