The Department administers the child care laws that regulate
child placement in Maryland. It licenses agencies and institutions
having the care and custody of minors (Code 1957, Art. 88A, secs.
19, 32)

The Department controls and supervises the four State training
schools. In developing the program within each training school,
including provision for after-care supervision, the Department estab-
lishes regulations, standards of care, policies of admission, transfer,
and discharge, and may order changes in policies or management.
Subject to these limitations, each of the schools is under the general
management of its Board of Managers. The Governor appoints the
nine members of each Board for terms of six years, so staggered
that the terms of at least three members expire every two years
(Code 1957, Art. 88A, sees. 33-38).

The Department also administers and supervises the three Forestry
Camps for delinquent boys. These Camps have a single advisory board
made up of eight members appointed by the Governor from the geo-
graphical area in which the camps are located. A field supervisor of
the State Department of Public Welfare and a district forester are
ex officio members. The Department is authorized by law to transfer
to these camps boys from either Boys' Village or the Maryland
Training School for Boys who, in its judgment, may benefit from such
care (Code 1957, Art. 88A, sec. 39).

In addition the Department administers the Maryland Children's
Center, which opened in 1960, as a facility for short-term detention
and study of children judged delinquent by the Courts. An Advisory
Board, composed of nine members appointed by the Governor for six-
year staggered terms, assists the Department of Public Welfare in
presenting the objectives of the Center to the public and generally
advises the Department and the superintendent of the Center (Code
1957, 1960 Cumulative Supp., Art. 88A, sec. 39A).