August 2005

In Maryland, the state government, business and philanthropy have committed to work together in a new way to solve difficult social problems.  This commitment was publicly ratified on August 1 when Governor Robert Ehrlich and other leaders launched the “More for Maryland” campaign and set a course for improving the way the state delivers services to vulnerable children and families – without new government spending.

Governor Ehrlich joined other state officials and More for Maryland campaign partners in signing the Maryland Opportunity Compact, designed to shift state funding priorities away from costly remedial and corrective services like prisons and foster care to focus on proven strategies like drug treatment, after-school programs and job training.  Other supporters of the Compact include Delegate Clarence Davis, T. Rowe Price Associates Foundation President Ann Allston Boyce, Annie E. Casey Foundation President Douglas W. Nelson, Family League Board President Andrew Freeman and Safe and Sound Director Hathaway Ferebee.

“More for Maryland offers a bold vision of exciting possibilities for our state,” said Gov. Ehrlich.  “It gives government, business and Maryland citizens a proven way to solve problems together, ensuring the long-term fiscal health of our state and more opportunity for every citizen.”

Compacts promoted under the “More” campaign commit the state and the private and philanthropic sectors to investing in intervention programs that ultimately reduce the need for costlier custodial programs such as prison, foster care and juvenile detention.  The first of these Compacts was signed by the Governor and partners on August 1, and it is intended to reduce the average length of stay in the foster care system.

Under the Compacts, the private and philanthropic sectors agree to put up “seed money” to give adults a second chance through the targeted interventions.  Less costly and more effective, these interventions free up funds currently tied to the state’s dependence on “last resort” programs.  For its part, the state commits to reinvest 60 percent of the savings to expand the availability of these second chance opportunities.  Even more savings are then generated and invested in proven programs that offer a good start to young people and families, and second chances to those who can benefit from them, creating a self-sustaining, positive cycle.

Foster Care Compact

Here’s how it is expected to work for the foster care Compact:  The private sector and philanthropic partners have committed more than $2 million, enough for 250 families to enroll in the “Family Recovery Program” through which drug- or alcohol-addicted parents are provided treatment and case management to accelerate their recovery and minimize the length of time their children are in foster care.  The Family Recovery Program is modeled after a San Diego initiative that combines the carrot of effective substance abuse treatment with a stick of meaningful sanctions for non-compliance.  Research shows that the San Diego program increased the speed of both reunification with parents and adoption for those children who cannot be reunified.  Children’s average length of stay in foster care has been reduced from 45 months to 8 to 16 months.

If Baltimore’s Family Recovery Program can replicate San Diego’s success, the state can save as much as $30,000 per child whose parent is in the program.  In anticipation of foster care cost savings, Gov. Ehrlich has earmarked $2 million in this year’s state budget to begin the cycle of reinvestment.  Additional savings can be used to address other state priorities.

The Family Recovery Program “will result in far more children being reunited with their families far more quickly,” said Andrew Freeman, president of the board of the Family League of Baltimore City.  “It is an application of common sense that is far too long in coming.”

Additional Compacts

This model of private investment in prevention → public savings → public investment in prevention and opportunity can be applied to many different circumstances.  The More for Maryland campaign is working on a number of other Compacts in addition to the foster care effort.

One involves drug treatment, education and wraparound services for nonviolent youth offenders.  Through this effort, state resources would be shifted from crisis-driven, institutional placements for adjudicated youth and toward comprehensive community support.  It is based on a Milwaukee program, known as “Wraparound,” of alternatives to institutional placement for juvenile offenders.  Participants are serviced in their communities and “wrapped around” with intensive mental health, substance abuse and other forms of supportive care.  This approach has been successful in reducing institutional placements, per-youth costs and recidivism while improving youth outcomes. 

A third Compact in development involves the re-entry of former prisoners into their communities.  Research shows that prisoners who participate in education and occupational skills training programs while in prison earn higher wages, are more likely to enroll in substance abuse treatment and counseling after release, and are more likely to continue education and training.  The per capita cost of these programs is much less than the $25,000 the state spends to incarcerate one adult for a year.

The Compacts have the potential to appreciably shift the balance of prevention vs. punitive and remediation costs for the State of Maryland.  According to New York University’s Center for Health and Social Policy Research, in Baltimore City alone Maryland currently spends $712 million annually on “last resort” programs such as incarceration and only $186 million on “good start and second chance” programs.

“More for Maryland is good for Maryland families and children, it is good for Maryland taxpayers and it is sound public policy,” said the Casey Foundation’s Doug Nelson, who is also chairman of the Safe and Sound Campaign.  “We can become a model for the nation in allocating funding based on results and increasing positive outcomes for the state’s most vulnerable children, youth and families.”

San Diego County model

The spark for the foster care Compact came during a visit by a delegation from Baltimore’s Safe and Sound Campaign to San Diego in 2004.  During this inter-city leadership visit sponsored by the Urban Health Initiative (UHI), the Safe and Sound group heard a presentation from Judge James Milliken about the foster care reforms he initiated in San Diego County.

Judge Milliken had retired as presiding judge of the San Diego County Juvenile Court in order to find opportunities to replicate the San Diego reforms elsewhere.  Safe and Sound brought Judge Milliken to Baltimore to work with other civic leaders to create a plan.

The Baltimore reform plan is modeled after the San Diego effort, although there are some differences.  “I insisted that the program be developed locally, but Baltimore’s is a replication that contains all the critical elements,” said Milliken.

One significant difference is the Maryland Governor’s commitment to reinvest savings back into the program.  Milliken praised this novel approach. “The Compact is strictly a Baltimore addition, and through it we set up a system so that if we do our job as expected, we have a dedicated funding source for the program,” he said.   “Safe and Sound and the Family League were really on the cutting edge in working with the State to give it a shot.

For more information on this website about Baltimore’s Safe and Sound Campaign, click here.