Maryland Ends Use of Hotels and Unlicensed Facilities for Foster Youth
The Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS) has issued a directive to all local social services agencies to immediately stop placing foster children in unlicensed facilities, including hotels. This decision follows the recent death of a 16-year-old girl who was under state care and died of an apparent overdose while staying in a Baltimore City hotel.
The directive, outlined in an October 22 memorandum, mandates that all local departments cease placing children in unlicensed settings for out-of-home care. “We will not rest until every child in our state is safe, thriving in a permanent home, and surrounded by a loving family,” the department said in a statement. “We are committed to ending the use of inappropriate stays for all children in our care, and that goal is becoming a reality.”
As of this week, six children remain in hotel placements, down from 41 reported in January 2023. DHS has ordered that these remaining children be moved by November 24 into kinship care, licensed foster homes, or other regulated placements.
The announcement comes amid heightened scrutiny of Maryland’s foster care system. DHS officials are scheduled to appear before the Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee to address concerns raised in a recent audit. The 70-page report revealed that children may have been placed in homes where registered sex offenders lived and that a convicted sex offender had worked in a group foster home before facing criminal charges involving children in his care.
The death of Kanaiyah Ward, the 16-year-old girl found unresponsive in a Baltimore hotel room on September 22, has intensified calls for reform. An autopsy determined she died from an overdose of diphenhydramine, an over-the-counter allergy medication.
State lawmakers have expressed outrage over the practice of housing foster children in hotels. “Putting children in need, who require special attention or care and need love, support, and guidance in hotel rooms with minimal, if any, consistent adult supervision is an absurd policy,” said House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany). “It is blatantly wrong, and thankfully, DHS has finally reached this conclusion.”
Delegate Mike Griffith (R-Harford and Cecil), who spent time in Maryland’s foster care system as a child, welcomed the policy change but raised concerns about what comes next. “Where will these children be housed?” he asked. “As many of them are children like Kanaiyah who need mental health or medical services, will they be placed with treatment foster care providers? Or, as we already know happens, will they be placed in more dire environments like homeless shelters?”
Griffith is advocating for legislation known as “Kanaiyah’s Law,” which would prohibit placing foster children in hotels for more than a week without review and approval from the secretary of the Department of Social Services. The proposed bill would also require training, licensing, and background checks for one-on-one care providers and allow the state to conduct ongoing monitoring of adults living in guardianship homes.
The department’s recent actions mark a significant shift in Maryland’s approach to foster care, aiming to ensure safer and more stable environments for vulnerable children.
Source: marylandmatters.org