Ch. 431                                    2004 LAWS OF MARYLAND

(2)     Educational reform through requirements for the State Department
of Education to assume educational programming at all facilities in the Department
of Juvenile Services by 2004; adoption of transition plans for youths returning to
public school from Department of Juvenile Services facilities; and adoption of a
statewide truancy prevention plan to prevent children from entering the juvenile
system;

(3)     Mental health and health care reform through supporting and
funding the 3 year Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Department of
Juvenile Services plan for enhanced mental health services; expanding the number of
mental health counselors in the juvenile services system to a ratio of 25 children per
counselor; implementing suicide prevention training programs; and addressing the
links between child welfare and juvenile cases;

(4)     Prevention of racial injustice and disparities in the juvenile system
through the use of an Assistant Secretary for Minority Justice Services to identify and
reduce unfair practices, establish cultural competency in training programs for
juvenile services personnel, and implement racially neutral screening and
assessments of children in the juvenile system; and

(5) Management and staffing reforms in the juvenile system through the
establishment and enforcement of strict personnel guidelines for Department of
Juvenile Services employees to protect against abuse of the children; recruiting,
training, and retaining qualified juvenile services staff by offering competitive
salaries and manageable caseloads that reflect case manager staffing ratios of 20
children per manager for troubled families and 30 children per manager for lesser
risk families; evaluating existing Department of Juvenile Services staff functions; and
improving informations systems coordination to share key data on juvenile case
histories with juvenile services systems statewide and to improve data collection
policies; and

WHEREAS, Chronic overcrowding in unsafe, antiquated, and inadequate
facilities, the pursuit of flawed juvenile justice management policies, the inability to
adequately address and prevent abuse of children by juvenile personnel and by other
youths in various juvenile facilities, and the inadequate funding of alternative
juvenile treatment programs and adequate, well trained juvenile staff, have
historically plagued the ability of the State to provide safe, secure, and positive
environments to help reform and support its troubled juveniles; now, therefore,

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the term of any agreement or contract that the Department of
Juvenile Services enters with a private vendor or private person for providing
juvenile services for the Department at the Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School after the
effective date of this Act may not exceed 1 year, unless an agreement or contract
allows the Department to terminate the contract without penalty 3 years.

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That:

(a) The Department of Juvenile Services shall provide to the Governor and, in
accordance with § 2-1246 of the State Government Article, the President of the

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