HAMPSTEAD, Md. (WBFF) — Twenty-six children and high-risk young adults in Maryland’s foster care system remain classified as missing or runaways, yet state officials claim they know the location of nearly all of them.
The Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS) says it can account for 22 of the 26 youth, even as they remain officially listed outside their assigned placements. The agency’s stance — that some of these youths are simply where they want to be — has ignited a debate over the state’s duty to protect its most vulnerable residents and whether officials are misrepresenting the status of children in their care.
26 Maryland children and high-risk young adults under state supervision remain missing or classified as runaways, according to the Maryland Department of Human Services. (Graphic: Zackary Lang/Spotlight on Maryland)
After weeks of pressure from Spotlight on Maryland, DHS provided a fragmented response to inquiries, repeatedly emphasizing: “These youth are not detained.”
A critical question remains unanswered: If the state knows where 22 youths are, why are they still counted as missing or as runaways?
DHS said its policy and a federal regulation define a runaway as “a child or young adult who has left, without authorization, the home or facility where they were residing.”
The state has not explained how it independently verifies the locations of the youth it claims to know. DHS also has not directly explained why youth who are reportedly at known locations or in contact with caseworkers are still being counted as missing, runaway, or otherwise out of placement.
These unanswered questions come as Spotlight on Maryland has found the agency adopted a restrictive approach to transparency. An internal “critical incident notification policy” implemented in September 2025 during former DHS Secretary Rafael Lopez’s tenure instructs local staff to withhold information from the public and government officials and to direct all inquiries to the central communications office.
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State Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready, a Republican representing Carroll and Frederick counties, said the state’s handling of the cases is deeply concerning. He pushed back against the suggestion that the state’s obligation ends simply because a youth indicates they are safe.
To just sort of say they’re where they want to be, and that’s kind of all we’re doing, is very concerning,” Ready said, “because a child is not often the best judge of where is best for them.”
Maryland Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready, R-Carroll and Frederick counties, spoke on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, with Spotlight on Maryland about missing foster children. (Zackary Lang/Spotlight on Maryland)
That tension has played out in real time. In May, a 16-year-old foster child fled the Silver Oak Academy, a privately operated foster facility in Carroll County. Despite a search, the youth remained unaccounted for until the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office located him two weeks later in a private Frederick home associated with a former Silver Oak employee 22 miles away.
The case has become a flashpoint in the broader critique of Maryland’s foster care oversight. Legislators are increasingly questioning whether the state relies too heavily on the word of high-risk children to justify a lack of intervention.
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DHS maintains that its reporting processes are rigorous. In a statement, press secretary Lilly Price said the agency takes its protective mission seriously and that labeling these youth as “lost” is a “mischaracterization.” She noted that providers failing to report missing youth face corrective action or contract termination.
As previously stated, the number of ‘runaways’ captured in the Department’s data encompasses youth experiencing a wide range of circumstances,” Price said. “In some cases, there are youth who have left their foster care placement, but are in contact with their caseworkers, indicated they are safe, and stated they are where they want to be. This scenario is often the case with older youth. These youth are not detained.”
However, the agency has stopped short of explaining how it independently verifies the safety of these youth, how many of the 26 are minors or how many cases have been reported to law enforcement.
“The Department provides meaningful interventions, accountability, and supervision, taking all of the same steps that any parent or guardian would to locate the child and ensure their safety,” Price said. “Caseworkers conduct a wide range of activities with the youth, known friends, relatives, and community leaders to ensure the safety of young people if they have left their out-of-home (foster) placement.”
For critics like Del. C.T. Wilson, a Charles County Democrat and former foster child, the issue points to a lack of meaningful accountability.
“When there is no punishment, when the worst thing you get from running away from a facility is being brought back to the facility, why not?” Wilson said.
Maryland Senate Office Complex sign in Annapolis, Md. (Steve Pierce/Spotlight on Maryland)
Ready echoed that sentiment, noting that the state’s role as a guardian requires a higher standard of oversight than it has currently demonstrated.
We can’t just have it be where a child goes missing for two weeks and we don’t know where they are and we think it’s okay,” Ready said. “It’s just not right.”
DHS has not said whether any provider, caseworker, supervisor or state official has faced discipline connected to the 26 active missing or runaway cases. Instead, DHS pointed Spotlight on Maryland to its reporting process outlined for foster programs, again repeating that foster youth are not detained.
“[State regulation] requirements include reporting the missing youth to local law enforcement, the placement agency, the licensing agency, and the child’s parent or legal guardian within one hour of determining the child is missing or unaccounted for,” Price wrote on Wednesday. “If a provider fails to comply, SSA can issue a corrective action plan that is monitored by SSA and the Office of Licensing and Monitoring.”
“Continued non-compliance can result in the provider’s placement on the SSA Hot List or a contract termination,” Price added.
Silver Oak was previously placed on the “Hot List” last year. The facility’s license will not be renewed at the end of this month, after months of reporting by Spotlight on Maryland on alleged conditions at the program.
ALSO READ | Maryland won’t renew Silver Oak’s license; foster abuse allegations mount
Ready said troubled circumstances inside the foster system may explain why some youth run, but he added that does not remove the state’s responsibility once Maryland assumes control.
“When the state is going to take over, the state needs to be held accountable, very strictly, to make sure things are being done right,” he said. “We need answers.”
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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