Maryland delegates passed HB 552 in a 129–1 vote, creating a commission to study the historic Cheltenham youth facility, including its operations, abuses, and deaths, after recognition of an unmarked burial site of Black children.
Tag: Cheltenham Youth Detention Center
Posted inMaryland News
Grant fuels push to investigate Maryland’s reform school for Black boys
The Maryland Department of Juvenile Services was awarded a $200,000 grant to begin searching for the remains of hundreds of boys buried in the woods near the Cheltenham Youth Detention Center, with the goal of restoring dignity to the boys and providing healing to their families.
Posted inMaryland News
Graves of imprisoned Black children inspire reform in Maryland
Members of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland visited an overgrown, unmarked cemetery in Prince George’s County holding the remains of at least 230 Black children who died 150 years ago. The visit highlighted the stark racial disparities in Maryland’s juvenile justice system and served as a call to restore the cemetery and pursue reforms that keep youth out of adult court.
Posted inPrince George's County News
Cheltenham’s lost graves spark push for juvenile justice reform
An overgrown burial ground near the Cheltenham Youth Detention Center holds the remains of Black boys who died there more than a century ago—children once confined under Maryland’s segregated juvenile justice system. Now, a state senator is pushing to reform how the state prosecutes youth, linking today’s policies to the system’s unequal and often forgotten past.