An audit of the Department of Juvenile Services, by the independent Department of Legislative Services, has concluded with a new report published late last week detailing findings and nine new recommendations. This is the second internal report issued on DJS in the last six months.
The nine recommendations in the May audit report cover seven focus areas and are in addition to the three programming and service related recommendations that were made late last year by the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability in the Department of Legislative Services (DLS). The new categories in need of addressing include:
- operations
- hiring practices
- procurement
- contract payments
- database security
- payroll procedures
- materials and supplies inventory
The report from December of 2024 previously identified three areas where the departments operational errors and inconsistencies made tracking services and outcomes a challenge. The department agreed to those as well with recommendations stating that DJS should:
- consider expanding the capability of its ASSIST database to capture placements with contracted providers and referrals to non-contracted community-based providers
- identify and replicate best-practices from local offices to ensure equitable treatment of DJS-involved youth throughout Maryland
- support the Governor’s Office for Children with the development of the “public centralized database of all State, local, and private resources available for children, youth and families in the State” mandated in Chapter 408 of 2024
DJS has been the focus of lawmakers in the General Assembly for the last few years, with juvenile reforms passed in 2022 and some recent considerations and changes in just the last two legislative sessions. Early on in the 2025 session Secretary Schiraldi sat for three hours giving testimony and answering questions in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and had a comparable hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.