New Policies Under New Leadership at Dept of Juvenile Services

The new Acting Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services seeks to ensure the department is compliant with statutory framework, bolstering community based services, and enhancing the effectiveness of electronic monitoring. 

Betsy Fox Tolentino has been in the new role of Acting Secretary of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) for a little over a month and already has ideas about ways to reform the agency and increase public safety. According to a recent WJLA article, Tolentino is focused specifically on detention as a short-term option, aligning operations with statutory mandates, and keeping youth in community based services to the degree possible. In moving these efforts forward Tolentino has more than a decade of experience at DJS as well as on the juvenile defense side of the equation as a public defender.

Tolentino comes in following the departure of Secretary Vincent Schiraldi following a two-year tenure, which saw the launch of the award-winning Thrive Academy and partnerships with credible messengers in an attempt to shift the department toward rehabilitation-focused models.

With almost 18 years of experience, Acting Secretary Tolentino has been praised by Governor Moore for having the combination of skills to understand both the legal standards and the operational knowledge necessary to run the agency, while keeping lines of communication open to outside juvenile justice stakeholders, including police, prosecutors, and community organizations. The potential for accountability and rehabilitation to be maintained is encouraging for law enforcement in the local jurisdictions that repeatedly pick up the same individuals for serious offenses, seemingly with little recourse after being handed off to DJS.

On the flip side, Tolentino is also faced with the challenge of how to manage the juveniles that are continually detained in adult detention centers despite a great deal of evidence showing this often increases their behavioral health challenges and likelihood of recidivism.  In discussing this exact problem, the Acting Secretary will join a panel of experts on the topic for a 2025 MACo Summer Conference panel titled, “Caring for Kids: Challenges with Juvenile Detention in Adult Facilities.” This session will take place on Thursday, August 14, 2025 from 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm.

The 2025 MACo Summer Conference will be held at the Roland Powell Convention Center in Ocean City, MD from August 13-16. This year’s theme is “Funding the Future.” More information can be found on our conference website.

Learn more about MACo’s Summer Conference: