Police calls surge at Maryland group home as deputies raise concerns about child safety

HARFORD COUNTY, Md. (WBFF) — A residential treatment facility tasked with helping some of Maryland’s most vulnerable young women is facing growing scrutiny after records obtained by FOX45 News revealed a dramatic increase in calls to law enforcement and repeated missing-child incidents.

The concerns center on Arrow’s Crossroads Community, a residential program in Harford County serving young women in the foster care system.

The facility is designed to provide stability, treatment and support to young women who have often experienced significant trauma and multiple foster care placements.

“Our mission is to help kids and strengthen families,” said Jennifer McLaughlin-Renault, senior vice president of Maryland programs for Arrow Child & Family Ministries.

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But law enforcement officials say the growing number of incidents involving the facility is raising serious questions about resident safety and whether some children are being placed in an environment equipped to meet their needs.

“I’m very concerned about the children,” said Captain David McDougall of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.

Records obtained by FOX45 News from the Harford County Sheriff’s Office show a significant increase in calls for service associated with Arrow’s Crossroads Community.

According to the Sheriff’s Office’s latest analysis, deputies responded to 45 calls in 2024, 66 in 2025, and 215 through Oct. 17, 2026.

“It’s a tremendous increase of calls,” McDougall said.

The Sheriff’s Office isn’t the only law enforcement agency responding to the facility.

Records obtained separately from Maryland State Police show 11 calls for service in 2024, 10 in 2025 and 25 between January 1 and August 31, 2026.

While the overall increase is substantial, law enforcement officials say the types of calls are particularly concerning. Through October 17, Sheriff’s Office records identify 43 calls classified as “missing child” and another 62 classified as “missing child returned.”

Additional records obtained by FOX45 reveal that repeated missing-person incidents are concentrated among a relatively small group of residents. According to the Sheriff’s Office, 13 residents accounted for 136 missing-person-related calls for service in 2026, or approximately 54% of all calls associated with the facility.

McDougall said many of the young women who leave Arrow travel beyond Harford County.

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“Oftentimes we learn they travel to other jurisdictions, mostly south of Harford County,” he said, identifying Baltimore City, Baltimore County and other jurisdictions along the Interstate 95 corridor.

A Sheriff’s Office analysis identified destinations including Baltimore City, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Howard County and Virginia.

Captain Mark Fox, who oversees the Sheriff’s Office’s Community Services Division, said many residents have experienced unstable home environments, trauma and unsuccessful foster care placements.

He said those circumstances can make young people especially vulnerable to exploitation.

“A lot of these young women are even more easily exploited because these traffickers latch on to the fact that, you know, they don’t have a steady home life. They don’t have a lot of resources that they can turn to,” Fox said.

McDougall confirmed that some missing-child incidents have resulted in investigations involving allegations of child sex trafficking.

“There’s been allegations of child sex trafficking from some of the children who have run away from the facility and multiple investigations in reference to that,” he said.

FOX45 pressed McDougall on whether those concerns were supported by documented investigations.

“There have absolutely been investigations, documented investigations,” McDougall responded.

He explained that because some alleged criminal activity occurred outside Harford County, investigators have coordinated with other jurisdictions and law enforcement partners, including federal agencies.

Beyond the risks facing residents when they leave, McDougall raised concerns about whether Arrow is receiving complete information about children before accepting them into its program.

He said conversations with Arrow staff suggested that some residents may require more intensive services than the facility can provide.

“They are concerned about the information they’re getting during the screening process of the young ladies that are coming to the facility and maybe not all the information being there,” McDougall said.

He questioned whether incomplete placement information could result in children being sent to facilities that are not equipped to address their individual needs.

Jennifer McLaughlin-Renault, senior vice president of Maryland programs for Arrow Child and Family Ministries, acknowledged the increase in law enforcement calls but said changes to the organization’s reporting procedures may help explain the numbers

She said state regulations allow a period of up to one hour to notify law enforcement when a resident leaves without authorization, but Arrow now reports those departures immediately.

“We do not wait that hour, we call immediately so that we can protect the safety of that young person,” McLaughlin-Renault said.

McLaughlin-Renault explained that staff previously might have attempted to locate and reengage a resident who left for a nearby destination before the reporting deadline.

For example, she described a situation in which a resident might walk to a nearby McDonald’s and return within approximately half an hour. Under the newer approach, law enforcement is notified immediately rather than waiting to see whether the resident returns.

McLaughlin-Renault also acknowledged that a relatively small group of residents has been responsible for repeated incidents. She said Arrow develops individualized safety plans, modifies programming and works with residents to address behaviors associated with trauma.

Despite the Sheriff’s Office’s concerns, McLaughlin-Renault insisted that Arrow is equipped to serve the young women it accepts.

“We have incredibly thorough admission criteria. Everybody we have admitted is appropriate for our program,” she said. “I do believe we are the appropriate placement.”

The program has a licensed capacity of 26 residents and a contracted capacity of 23. McLaughlin-Renault said the facility typically serves approximately 20 or 21 young women at a time and employs about 40 staff members working across shifts. The organization served 47 young women during the last fiscal year.

McLaughlin-Renault said she recalled approximately one case during that period in which Arrow needed to discuss with the state whether another placement would be appropriate.

“We will not admit a young person if we do not feel safe doing so or feel that we can maintain their safety doing so,” she said.

When asked how Arrow can keep residents safe when some repeatedly leave the facility, McLaughlin-Renault emphasized the importance of ongoing treatment and building trust.

“We are constantly engaging the young women and speaking with them. They have therapy services and we do not give up,” she said. “Time is part of the healing process.”

Arrow says its staff conduct medical reviews and arrange therapist assessments when residents return from unauthorized absences. Depending on the circumstances, the facility can also increase supervision, including assigning one-on-one support.

FOX45 News also questioned Arrow about the trafficking investigations described by the Sheriff’s Office.

McLaughlin-Renault declined to discuss individual cases, citing the privacy and confidentiality of the young women in the program. However, she confirmed that Arrow accepts residents with histories of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

“Part of our admissions criteria is that we will serve young women who do have a history of human and sex trafficking,” she said.

McLaughlin-Renault said Arrow coordinates with law enforcement and the FBI task force when a resident enters the program with a known trafficking history.

The organization maintains that it works with state agencies and law enforcement to protect residents while providing treatment in a nonsecure setting.

The Sheriff’s Office says it has repeatedly brought its concerns to the Maryland Department of Human Services, which oversees the state’s child-welfare system and licenses residential child-care providers.

According to McDougall, the Sheriff’s Office filed three complaints involving Arrow; one in April 2025 and two more in July and August 2026.

“It wasn’t until my second complaint and a few emails that I received anything from the state,” McDougall said.

He said DHS eventually met with Sheriff’s Office representatives and reviewed the facility’s compliance with state regulations.

According to McDougall, state officials reported finding no licensing violations.

FOX45 News questioned Alger Studstill, executive director of Maryland’s Social Services Administration, about the complaints and the state’s response.

Studstill said DHS’s Office of Licensing and Monitoring investigates complaints involving licensed providers and has the authority to impose sanctions when violations are identified.

He confirmed that DHS leadership had met with law enforcement representatives and Arrow officials about their concerns.

However, Studstill did not provide specific findings for the three complaints during the interview. He said DHS has not terminated Arrow’s state contract.

Studstill acknowledged that the repeated missing-child incidents raise safety concerns, but he rejected the suggestion that those incidents automatically mean Arrow is an inappropriate placement.

“One episode or even multiple episodes doesn’t mean that the provider isn’t the best place,” Studstill said.

He emphasized that the children living at Arrow are in foster care because of circumstances beyond their control, including abuse, neglect and trauma.

When FOX45 asked whether repeated unauthorized departures were a safety concern, Studstill drew a distinction between risks to residents and violations by the provider.

“They’re a safety concern for the risks that it poses to the young people, not a safety concern for the provider,” he said. “They’re not a locked facility, right. They can’t restrain a young person.”

Studstill was pressed on whether residents who repeatedly leave should be placed somewhere they cannot continue running away.

“Absolutely not,” he responded. “We do not want to have young people in foster care detained as though they’re a criminal.”

Studstill said the state must balance resident safety with the rights of young people who have not committed crimes.

He also said DHS has updated its missing-child procedures, including requiring prompt law enforcement notification, designating a youth services coordinator to track cases and bringing together multidisciplinary teams to review individual circumstances.

The department is also exploring a statewide task force on missing and runaway youth to improve coordination among agencies.

Studstill acknowledged that some children have increasingly complex behavioral-health and mental-health needs, but said the state must continue developing appropriate services rather than automatically moving residents to more restrictive settings.

Despite the continued incidents, both Arrow and DHS defended the existing regulatory framework.

When asked whether state regulations are sufficient, McLaughlin-Renault said she believes they are.

“More rules would actually make it harder for us to be flexible in meeting the needs of our young women,” she said.

Studstill similarly questioned whether additional restrictions would address the underlying behavior.

“Any changing policy doesn’t always change behavior,” he said.

He argued that the broader challenge involves improving mental-health services, strengthening families and addressing trauma before children require residential treatment.

But the Sheriff’s Office maintains that regulatory compliance does not eliminate the risks associated with repeated missing-child incidents. Fox said he would like the state to reconsider placements when particular residents repeatedly leave a facility.

“I would like the state to step in and say maybe this isn’t the right location for these young women,” Fox said.

He also acknowledged that Maryland has limited alternatives for some children with significant treatment needs.

The repeated calls are also consuming substantial law enforcement resources. McDougall said missing-child reports can require multiple deputies, searches of surrounding areas, reviews of surveillance footage, follow-up investigations and assistance from specialized units.

“The initial call for a missing kid, multiple deputies are responding, we’re searching the area, we’re canvassing, we’re checking surveillance footage,” he said. “We only have three deputies who work this entire area. So one missing child call could take the three of them and tie them up for a long time.”

The Sheriff’s Office says it has worked cooperatively with Arrow to improve procedures, including training staff and residents and ensuring deputies receive identifying information quickly when someone is reported missing.

Arrow has also offered to work with law enforcement to advocate for additional resources.

But deputies say every missing-child report must be treated seriously, regardless of how frequently a particular resident leaves. McDougall said his greatest concern is that one of those incidents could eventually end in tragedy.

“I am in fear of one of these children being seriously hurt that ran away from the facility here in Harford County,” he said.

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