400 / Department of Juvenile Justice Maryland Manual 1996-1997

________________________ORIGIN & FUNCTIONS______________ _________

The Department of Juvenile Justice works with troubled youth to treat and control juvenile delinquency
In the colonial period, children who turned to crime, begging, or vagrancy were jaded with hardened criminals
By the end of the eighteenth century, they could be committed to an almshouse County courts and local
trustees of the poor also bound out such children to learn a trade so that local government would not have to
support them As Maryland built its first pnson in 1811, the idea came into vogue that the State ultimately
could save money by stopping children from embarking on a life of crime Children would be separated from
adults in places of detention and given a home, education, and training for a trade

Private and Quasi Public Reformatories In 1830, the legislature passed "An Act to establish a House of
Refuge for Juvenile Delinquents" (Chapter 64, Acts of 1830) A private corporation supported by member
subscriptions, the House of Refuge nevertheless had ties to State and local government Of its twenty four
managers, eight were appointed by the Governor and Council, eight by the membership, and eight by the
Mayor and City Council of Baltimore Managers were to report annually to the legislature, and the institution's
buildings and grounds would be tax-free The House of Refuge was to admit minors who were arrested for
begging in the streets of Baltimore, arrested, awaiting trial, or convicted of any criminal charge in the courts
of Baltimore City or Baltimore County, found refractory by almshouse trustees, or convicted by a county court
of an offense punishable by imprisonment m the Penitentiary Instead of granting an outright appropriation
to the fledgling institution, the General Assembly assigned up to $5,000 annually for five years from the profits
of the Maryland Penitentiary to support the House of Refuge Those five years were unprofitable for the
Penitentiary and consequently for the House of Refuge as well Financial difficulties hampered construction
and, by 1841, the managers were ready to return contributions (Chapter 3, Acts of 1841) In 1849, while the
legislature appropriated no State funds to hasten construction, it did amend the 1830 law Upon complaint of
a parent or guardian, the House of Refuge now was authorized to admit incorrigible minors prior to arrest
(Chapter 374, Acts of 1849) That same year the Penitentiary Warden in his annual report alluded to

mere youths, who are here for their first offences, and whose offences it is but charitable to conclude,
were the results more ofthoughtlessness or of circumstances than of any confirmed principle of crime
Of this description we have three prisoners between the ages of 13 and 15, and 18 between the ages of
15 and 18, a majority of whom are m for trivial offences,—and may I not ask, would not fine or the
alternative of confinement m a house of correction, as is the case m some of our sister states, be a more
appropriate way of disposing of the perpetrators of such offences, than imprisonment in the Penitentiary^>

In recommending State aid, a select committee of the House of Delegates noted m 1852 that the House of
Refuge had been contemplated for thirty eight years, with $20,000 contributed thus far by the City of Baltimore,
$22,000 from pnvate subscriptions, and not one penny from the State By December 1855, the House of Refuge
opened A year later, another select committee visited and found it "a grand and noble institution," and the General
Assembly apprupnatcd $10,000 cuuimlly to its support for fiveyean> (Chapier288,Acc> of 1856) By 1867, according
to the annual report, the House of Refuge had housed 1,638 children 1,394 boys and 244 gins

Midcentury, private institutions, including orphanages and reformatories, proliferated, especially in
Baltimore City The Home of the Friendless was incorporated in 1854, followed by the Children's Aid
Society in 1862, the House of the Good Shepherd in 1864, and St Joseph's House of Industry and St
Mary's Industrial School for Boys in 1865 With State appointees on their governing boards and fairly
regular government funding, these institutions became quasi public in nature and received children
committed by courts, magistrates, justices of the peace, parents, or guardians

After the Civil War, reformatories for youth were established as pnvate insntunons segregated by race and gender
Pour ultimately became public reformatones the House of Refuge, the House of Reformation, the Maryland
Industrial School for Girls, and the Industrial Home for Colored Girls After the House ofRefuge came the Maryland
Industrial School for Girls, incorporated m 1866 for the "care, reformation and instruction of such girls as are not
admitted into either the House ofRefuge, the Home of the Fnendless, or the Children's Aid Society, but who need
the care of some public reformatory institution" (Chapter 156, Acts of 1866) Initially, directors of the School were
chosen from the membership or appointed by the Mayor of Baltimore, the School received no State aid but its
property was tax-exempt By 1870, however, the Governor appointed ten of thirty directors (Chapter 391, Acts of
1870) The School was renamed the Female House ofRefuge m 1880 (Chapter 173, Acts of 1880)

The House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children was incorporated in 1870 (Chapter 392,
Acts of 1870), perhaps in response to the "Memorial of the Grand Jury of Baltimore City Praying that a Place
of Punishment may be Provided for Minor Colored Children" (House Documents, X, February 5, 1867)
The Governor appointed two of sixteen managers, buildings and grounds were tax free, a report to the General
Assembly was required, and, contingent on $30,000 from pnvate subscriptions, an appropriation of $5,000