ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WBFF) — Maryland officials claim they have policies for what to do when children disappear from state-supervised care. What they have not yet provided is a clear answer to a basic question: How many are missing right now?
The state’s silence on the total number of children lost to its oversight is fueling growing unease. This uncertainty comes amid widening scrutiny of the child welfare system, ignited by the pending closure of Silver Oak Academy, a privately operated foster care group home in Carroll County.
Spotlight on Maryland has reported for weeks on runaway incidents, emergency calls, alleged assaults, and concerns from former workers, law enforcement, and lawmakers about conditions at the Keymar campus. Shortly before state regulators said they would not renew Silver Oak’s license at the end of June, a Spotlight investigation found that a 16-year-old foster child was missing from the facility for two weeks before being located.
Now, the focus is shifting beyond a single facility to the state’s broader ability to track the children in its custody.
State Del. Mike Griffith, a Republican representing Harford and Cecil counties, and a former foster child, said Tuesday that the possibility that Maryland has lost track of children in its own care should alarm the public.
It’s obviously, when it’s the state’s responsibility for these kids, they lose track of them, that’s unbelievably concerning,” Griffith said.
Spotlight on Maryland asked the Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS) three times — on May 13, 18, and 26 — for the total number of foster children currently missing from state care. On May 13 and 18, the agency responsible for foster care requested more time to answer. On May 26, Spotlight did not receive a response.
Each time, DHS did not provide the numbers.
Empty road leading up to Silver Oak Academy, a private foster facility, in Keymar, Md. (Steve Pierce/Spotlight on Maryland)
Maryland’s internal policy acknowledges the gravity of the risk. A state Social Services Administration directive reviewed by Spotlight on Maryland said local departments must take immediate action when a child or young adult in state care runs away or has unknown whereabouts, including screening the child for human trafficking upon their recovery.
The policy also said children missing from care must be reported to law enforcement within 24 hours for entry into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center and reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).
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The national data highlights why the question matters. NCMEC reported 23,348 incidents of children missing from foster care in 2025. Of the children missing from care who were reported to the center, 17% nationally were identified as likely victims of child sex trafficking, or roughly one in six.
Griffith said children run from state care for many reasons.
“Neglect, abuse, it could be trying to return to the neighborhood that they grew up in and want to go home with a friend,” Griffith said. “It could be, unfortunately, these children are vulnerable to human trafficking, so someone may have groomed them online.”
Echoing similar concerns, State Del. C.T. Wilson, a Charles County Democrat and former foster child, said there are “a bunch of reasons” that cause foster children to run away.
The main one is that is not their home,” Wilson said Tuesday. “A lot of kids are looking for their home, and no one wants to be in a facility.”
Maryland Del. Mike Griffith, R-Harford and Cecil Counties, said on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, that he will be cross-filing Democrat bills in the Maryland House of Delegates for the 2026 session to crack down on squatting, saying it is a universal problem that doesn’t discriminate against party affiliation. (Zackary Lang/Spotlight on Maryland)
That vulnerability has been central to Spotlight’s reporting on Silver Oak Academy.
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In one case, a 16-year-old foster child disappeared in early May from the rural Carroll County campus for 14 days before being found 22 miles away in Frederick. Rite of Passage, the Nevada-based operator of Silver Oak, initially told Spotlight the teen was believed to be with family.
Spotlight later learned that was not true. Instead, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant to obtain the missing child from the family home of a former Silver Oak employee.
A day after the child was found, a former Silver Oak worker, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, said they did not blame the children for running.
“No, no I don’t,” the former worker said. “I blame admin. I blame Silver Oak.”
Malik Glover, a former Silver Oak employee who said he quit shortly before speaking with Spotlight last week, said the missing teenager’s decision to run appeared tied to safety concerns.
If you don’t feel safe, you go into panic mode, and that might lead to anything,” Glover said. “It’s just no structure in the program. At times, I don’t feel safe as staff.”
Wilson said the state’s escalating foster care problems may be a byproduct of conflicting policy messages coming from elected leaders in Annapolis.
“We are really living in this tension of giving our children, taking care of them, and treating them, making sure they’re okay in a loving environment, but not allowing them to be provided any structure and discipline or ramifications for misdeeds,” Wilson said. “When there are no ramifications, when there is no punishment, when the worst thing you get from running away from a facility is brought back to the facility, why not?”
Del. C.T. Wilson, D-Charles County, in the Maryland House of Delegates chamber in Annapolis, Md., on Saturday, March 15, 2025, reviewing the vote count for the Maryland Second Look Act. (Gary Collins/Spotlight on Maryland)
Silver Oak is regulated by DHS, with its license issued by the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services. DHS previously told Spotlight it had been working since December to relocate children from the facility, and that DHS and the Department of Juvenile Services jointly monitored the program through site visits, corrective action plans, and youth incident reports.
In an email obtained last week, Spotlight on Maryland learned that DHS announced internally that Silver Oak’s license will not be renewed.
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Federal oversight has found that even after missing foster children return, systems often fail to document required trafficking screenings. A 2022 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General review of five states found 65% of reviewed case files had no evidence of a sex-trafficking screening after children returned from going missing.
Griffith said the state’s reliance on private vendors deserves continued scrutiny.
“Some of these vendors are not up to the standards that us as a state believe they should be,” Griffith said. “Sunshine’s a great disinfectant.”
Have you experienced or had direct knowledge about the conditions at Silver Oak Academy? 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.
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