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.