State Allows Juvenile Treatment Facility In Carroll County To Double In Size

The state Board of Public Works voted Wednesday to allow a Carroll County treatment center for juveniles to double its size to 96 beds — twice the state cap of 48 — despite a policy of sending troubled teens to smaller facilities for treatment.

"It's not ideal," Gov. Martin O'Malley, a member of the board, said after voting for the expansion. "It's not ideal at all."

But O'Malley and Sam Abed, Maryland's secretary of juvenile services, said the state had no choice but to allow the privately run Silver Oak facility to expand because more than 40 youths are languishing in state detention centers instead of getting court-mandated treatment.

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