BALTIMORE — Maryland's Department of Juvenile Services has a new leader working to address longstanding concerns about how the agency handles young offenders.
Betsy Fox Tolentino, who has been acting secretary for just over three months, said she's focused on rebuilding relationships with stakeholders and improving operations after criticism of the department's intake process.
"This is like a dream job. I love this work. I have been sort of in and around the juvenile justice system for 20 years, right, whether it's as an attorney or an advocate or working here in the agency. So, this is where I'd always wanted to end up and being able to be in this position, it's quite an honor," Fox Tolentino said.
Fox Tolentino speaks on her new role and the impact she wants to have
Fox Tolentino spent more than a decade in the department she now leads. Most recently she worked at the Roca Impact Institute.
"The last few months have been great. We've had a great opportunity to connect with our frontline staff. I've had time to connect with some of the young people we're serving, be out in the community. Listen to our stakeholders, rebuild some of those relationships with law enforcement and state's attorneys and our public defenders, and really listen to how people are experiencing the system, understanding where we have opportunities to make really impactful change," she said.
DJS has dealt with issues surrounding its intake process. People have expressed concerns that too many young people were being sent right back out into the community after committing a crime.
A neighborhood association in Baltimore called for former Secretary Vincent Schiraldi to be fired in the fall of 2024.
"I've heard the same thing and that really has directed a lot of our attention to those areas, really understanding what's happening, why is the community and our stakeholders experiencing those feelings that the department is having young people sort of cycle through and our front door isn't working the way we want it to. So we've dug into our operations. We've looked and seen how our tools to help that help us make decisions, how they're operating, because at the end of the day we want our operations to generate the outcomes that we all want to see, which is our young people thriving in our communities feeling safer," Fox Tolentino said.
During a legislative hearing this spring, the department mentioned it is working to upgrade its technology. The improvements could assist in making sure young people are held accountable and get the services they need.
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"We're making small updates along the way to hopefully get us into a better space with our technology because that technology is really the foundation of being able to track those outcomes that we want to see," Fox Tolentino said.
Fox Tolentino shared what she wants for the young people who engage with the department.
"I hope young people are noticing a difference in the sense that they are supported and that they are getting the interventions and programs directed towards them that are going to help disrupt future offending and that they are in a position to thrive and be able to be really productive members of the community," she said.
Fox Tolentino is only the acting secretary for now. Governor Moore's office has said she will get the official nomination before Maryland's Senate, which will happen next year.
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