‘Many of the assumptions that society seems to hold about youth violence are wrong’
Like many Marylanders, I am concerned about the violence that occurs at the hands of our young people. We turn on the news and are bombarded with sensationalized coverage of it every day. The fear of such violence appears more widespread than ever, and that fear has given way to false narratives. But we can’t solve the problem if we aren’t working from reality.
Over the past eight months, the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services has conducted a thorough review of our agency. The goal from the start was to understand where our challenges lie and where we can improve. We found that many of the general assumptions that society seems to hold about youth violence are wrong.
We’ve summarized our findings, and here’s what we’ve learned:
Contrary to popular narrative, juvenile crime represents a relatively small portion of all crime in Maryland. In 2021, adults represented 93% of homicide arrests.
It’s true that we’ve seen an increase in youth crime over the past two years, but today, most categories of youth crime — including violent youth crime — are below pre-pandemic levels and have been declining for more than a decade.
Contrary to popular narrative, young people are more likely to be victims of violent crimes than perpetrators of violent crimes — something that should outrage us all. The youth share of arrests declined from 2013 through 2021, yet the proportion of juvenile complaints that are for crimes of violence has not changed, and the number of youth who were victims of homicide increased significantly. Our report revealed a fourfold increase in the number of young people who were victimized by gun violence in Maryland over the last decade, and that roughly 9 out of 10 of them are youth of color.
Contrary to popular narrative, incarceration — while one important tool for accountability — isn’t the most effective course in addressing juvenile crime. Recent declines in juvenile crime have occurred at a time when leaders in the justice system have made the choice to prioritize community-based rehabilitation over incarceration. Additionally, we know mass incarceration often perpetuates and deepens racial divides. Maryland incarcerates people under age 18 in adult prisons at twice the national average, and nine out of 10 of those youth are people of color. Youth of color in Maryland are more likely to be incarcerated than to receive support services and rehabilitation in the community.
This is the truth — unvarnished and unsensational. I share the concerns of many who want accountability for those who commit heinous acts. In an age when everyone has a camera, these often dramatic acts drive most of the attention on social media and in the news. But our children and our society would be better served by leading with compassion and working to fill the gaps that leave too many kids behind. We need to engage our children, both to stop them from committing crimes and to protect them from the crimes of others.
We have our work cut out for us. During my earliest days at the agency, it was clear that the department needed to be modernized and adopt best practices. Despite high rates of gun violence, there was no plan to reduce it — so we worked with law enforcement, communities and kids to devise an intensive, evidence-informed program to move kids off the path of violence and onto a path toward success. Despite idleness in our facilities, there were no after-school programs for our youth — so we launched after school educational, work and service programs in all of our facilities.
And we continue to expand our actions. We partnered with Gov. Wes Moore to launch the Safe Summer Initiative this past June, which provided $5 million to address high rates of gun violence in 12 Maryland counties. We launched the Thrive Academy, which provides support services to youth at highest risk of gun violence in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. And we are currently engaged with other Maryland state agencies in the governor’s “all-of-government” approach to reducing crime by providing targeted resources to communities most in need.
Together with law enforcement, community-based organizations, parents, caregivers, victims and village elders, we can reverse mistakes of the past, stem the tide of violence and create more opportunity. Violent crime, whether perpetrated by or upon our youth, is an issue that concerns all of our communities. We must move in partnership to restore the potential of our kids and communities to prevent a lost generation.