26 missing foster children: Maryland says they are ‘runaways’

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WBFF) — State officials have lost more than two dozen foster children in their care, a Spotlight on Maryland investigation has found.

The Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS) told Spotlight on Wednesday morning that 26 children are currently missing.

As of today, there are 3,823 youth in out-of-home care,” DHS press secretary Lilly Price said in an email. “Of those youth, 26, or 0.68% are in runaway status.”

The email came after Spotlight on Maryland requested the information two times in a two-week period, repeatedly asking how many state foster children were missing from government care. The DHS response was sent after a Spotlight story that said the agency hadn’t answered the question.

“The number of “runaways” encompasses youth who have run away from their resource home, kinship home, or group home; youth who have been abducted by parent (e.g., a parent has visitation with their child and takes the child from a visit); and youth who are sheltered via emergency petition before they are physically located by the Local Department of Social Services and police,” Price said in an email.

Spotlight on Maryland has asked how many children in DHS’s foster care system are classified as missing, with unknown whereabouts/status, or in any other related internal categories for a youth who is not present at the location they should be. Spotlight has sent additional questions to the state agency and other state leaders.

Some of those questions include:

• What is the breakdown of the time missing for each of the 26 children?
• How does the Maryland Department of Human Services know a missing, runaway, or otherwise unaccounted-for incident involving a foster child has occurred?
• What national averages showing 17% of missing foster children are involved in child sex trafficking, how does the Maryland Department of Human Services know whether a child has or has not been involved with a trafficker? What is Maryland’s current average for 2026?
• Why did it take two weeks to obtain missing children numbers?
• What are the consequences for a group home or facility when foster children go missing?
• Del. Mike Griffith, a Republican representing Harford and Cecil counties, said Wednesday morning he was not pleased with the new information.

“It’s obviously unacceptable that we have this many children missing from the foster care system,” Griffith said. “We have seen in other instances involving missing children that when information is communicated through social media, news stations, and the community at large, we are typically able to help find these children.”

A former foster child in Maryland’s system for years, Griffith questioned Maryland’s current model.

“My challenge to the foster care system is this: why don’t we treat the foster care children who go missing the same way we would treat a child who is not in the system,” Griffith asked.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Have you experienced or had direct knowledge about the conditions at Silver Oak Academy or Maryland foster care? Do you have any tips related to this story? Send news tips to gmcollins@sbgtv.com or contact Spotlight on Maryland’s hotline at (410) 467-4670.

Follow Gary Collins on X and Instagram. Spotlight on Maryland is a collaboration between FOX45 News, WJLA in Washington, D.C., and The Baltimore Sun.