UNION BRIDGE, Md. (WBFF) — Mounting calls to close Silver Oak Academy are intensifying after lawmakers, a former medical contractor, and an internal document obtained by Spotlight on Maryland describe the residential facility for foster youth as possibly spiraling into a crisis.
Silver Oak’s controversy centers on the privately run residential program in Western Carroll County, operated by Rites of Passage under state oversight. The facility serves teenage boys, including those involved in Maryland’s foster care and juvenile justice systems.
Joe Vigliotti, president of the Carroll County Board of Commissioners, said he has been receiving emails from Silver Oak staff and community members since last summer.
Silver Oak needs to be shut down,” Vigliotti said.
Del. Chris Tomlinson, R-Carroll and Frederick counties, echoed Vigliotti’s concerns on Monday at the Maryland State House.
“It’s been a problem for years, and the problems just escalate,” Tomlinson said when asked whether the facility should remain open.
Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready, R-Carroll and Frederick counties, said his support for Silver Oak used to be strong. He said he had even given a commencement speech at the location; however, his support has since disappeared after months of reports from the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.
“It sounds to me they need to take serious action to shut it down,” Ready said.
The demands follow a series of alarming incidents first reported by Spotlight on Maryland last Thursday, including a review of emergency dispatch calls and law enforcement body-worn camera footage that show staff accounts of repeated violence, fires, and property destruction on campus.
In a reviewed emergency dispatch recording, a Silver Oak staffer can be heard pleading for help as juveniles under state care allegedly overran the facility in two separate incidents since January 2025.
I have youth who are overtaking the campus. They have rocks. They’re breaking windows,” the employee said. “We are not able to manage it.”
Another staff member described an incident to Carroll County Sheriff’s Office deputies in late March, saying, “They lit it up again and threw a flaming book at me.”
The circumstances inside Silver Oak purportedly extended beyond isolated incidents.
In a November 2025 resignation letter obtained by Spotlight on Maryland, Silver Oak’s advisory board stepped down, citing “extensive property damage,” serious injuries to staff, and a failure to provide adequate therapeutic intervention.
The board wrote that employees had suffered broken arms and broken noses, with one requiring facial reconstruction. The letter also warned that there was “little, if no, systematic opportunity” for therapeutic intervention to keep juveniles safe.
In an exclusive interview on Wednesday with Spotlight on Maryland, James Rowe, a registered nurse in Union Bridge, Md., who said he has worked in healthcare since 1971, alleged serious lapses in medication management and compliance with Maryland regulations.
Rowe said he worked at Silver Oak from May through August of last year.
“The problem there was that the people there did not understand Maryland’s regs,” Rowe said.
According to Rowe, staff at times were improperly administering medications without the credentials required under Maryland law.
When I first got there, they would say you didn’t need med techs. Anyone can give meds,” he said. “That’s not what happens in Maryland.”
Rowe said such failures posed direct risks to vulnerable youth, many of whom he asserted needed psychiatric medication or treatment for chronic medical conditions.
“If they are not getting the meds they need when they need them, and their psych drugs, what’s that doing to the person?” Rowe said. “That’s why there is more fighting.”
The veteran nurse also shared text messages he said were sent by staff members after he left the facility, including one claiming that juveniles had gone two weeks without proper medication before a violent incident in November that resulted in a fractured shoulder.
“The students have not been getting the proper medications for the last two weeks,” the message said.
Rowe said he ultimately left after only a few months because he no longer believed it was safe to continue training staff.
“I don’t think they have the qualified people they need to have,” Rowe said.
Dana Rexrode, the executive director of Rite of Passage’s eastern district, which includes Silver Oak, denied Rowe’s allegations by email late on Thursday evening.
Silver Oak Academy takes all student care concerns seriously and complies fully with Maryland regulations,” Rexrode wrote. “Medications are administered by licensed nurses and certified technicians under supervision, and the allegations do not reflect our records or current practices.”
When asked about the allegations on Wednesday after interviewing Rowe, the Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS) referred to a prior statement issued last week to Spotlight on Maryland. At that time, Ben Shnider, senior advisor to the DHS secretary and communications director, defended the facility’s ongoing operation but recognized that significant state intervention was involved.
Shnider wrote last week that Silver Oak is “specifically designed to serve teenage boys, particularly those exhibiting aggressive behaviors,” and warned that “prematurely closing this facility before thoughtfully considering alternative placements for these boys would be irresponsible.”
The agency said that it had already taken action against the operator.
“In November 2025, we placed the operator of Silver Oak Academy, Rites of Passage, on our ‘Hot List,’ which means that no new youth will be placed there until they come into compliance,” Shnider wrote.
Schnider said DHS told Rites of Passage it would not issue a license for the residential child care program the organization sought. The operator is now appealing that decision, and an administrative hearing is expected later this month.
Meanwhile, the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) told Spotlight on Maryland this week that Silver Oak holds an active license with the agency. A DJS spokesperson said they were “working to collect information” about the allegations Rowe made.
For critics, however, the state’s response has not gone far enough.
Ready said that if the facility has been barred from receiving new placements, it raises urgent questions about why any youths remain there.
If you’re not putting anybody new there, you shouldn’t be putting anybody there,” Ready said.
For Rowe, the issue is ultimately about children in state care, with Marylanders paying an excess of $400,000 per student annually.
“It feels like the state is placing children there and forgetting about them,” Rowe said.
Do you have news tips about privately operated juvenile facilities that are funded by Maryland tax dollars? Send tips about this story or others 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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