KEYMAR, Md. (WBFF) — A privately operated youth treatment and foster home facility in rural Carroll County is facing renewed scrutiny after repeated emergency calls, violent incidents, and growing concerns from local law enforcement over whether the state’s current model is failing some of Maryland’s most vulnerable children.

Silver Oak Academy, a staff-secured residential treatment campus that does not use fencing, locks, or restraints in Keymar, has generated more than 100 calls for service since January 2025, according to public records obtained by Spotlight on Maryland.

Police records obtained show 35 incident reports resulted from those calls, including arson, destruction of property, assaults, escapes of at-risk juveniles and motor vehicle thefts.

Carroll County Sheriff Jim DeWees told Spotlight on Maryland that his office has been swamped with emergency calls for service from Silver Oak Academy staff and juveniles since it was reopened in late 2024 after a cycle of failed relaunches and abrupt closures.

Dana Rexrode, executive director for Rite of Passage’s eastern district, which includes Silver Oak, disputed characterizations made by DeWees that the alternative environment was spiraling out of control. She said the “open campus” model focused on therapeutic intervention rather than confinement.

“We don’t have locks on our doors,” Rexrode told Spotlight on Maryland by Zoom on Thursday. “They [foster juveniles] move freely with direct supervision around the campus. We don’t use any sort of mechanical restraints.”

The Maryland Department of Human Services and the Department of Juvenile Services oversee Rite of Passage’s contract and enforcement of Silver Oak. DJS did not accept Spotlight’s interview request, while DHS said Silver Oak is on its ‘hot list’ of facilities.

‘Overtaking the campus’

A February 2025 emergency call Spotlight on Maryland obtained included a female staffer who told the dispatcher that teens were “overtaking the campus.”

“They have rocks,” said the caller in February 2025. “They’re breaking windows.”

“I’ve had a youth spray a fire extinguisher in a staff’s face, and we are not able to manage it,” the caller said in a panicked tone.

Three Silver Oak juveniles, ages 13, 14, and 17, were arrested in that incident.

DeWees said the incident was, at the time, the second major fight in just two weeks. The sheriff added that at least eight assaults have been linked to the facility since January 2025.

The latest flashpoint came last week.

Body-worn camera footage obtained by Spotlight on Maryland on Thursday – matched with dispatch audio reviewed – revealed a staff member calling 911 again to report that three juveniles at the facility were actively setting fires on campus.

Go, go, run, run,” said the Silver Oak staffer. “We have three youths setting things on fire at our campus.”

When asked by dispatch whether anyone was in danger, the staffer promptly responded: “Honestly? Yes.”

A staffer told Carroll County deputies that Silver Oak teens “threw a flaming book” at him as he attempted to get the juveniles under control.

‘Escalated and elevated’

Rexrode described the most recent incident that Carroll County Sheriff’s Office incident reports dispositioned as a riot, malicious burning, arson, and second-degree assault, as “three students who became escalated and elevated.” She said that staff were able to de-escalate the situation and safely return the teens to their dorms within about 45 minutes.

“I’m not sure three students constitute a riot,” Rexrode said.

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DeWees said he sharply disagrees with that assessment.

We’ve had riots out there where we’ve had multiple units respond to take over the facility and had multiple arrests,” DeWess said. “Our understanding is that it had been going on for quite some time. It was about 50 to 55 minutes later that they finally decided it was so much out of control that they had to pick up the phone and dial 911.”

Despite making arrests during the incident two weeks ago, the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services released the teens back to Silver Oak’s custody within days.

Carroll County Sheriff Jim DeWees told Spotlight on Maryland on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, that his office has been overwhelmed with calls for service related to incidents that have occurred at Silver Oak Academy. (Steve Pierce/Spotlight on Maryland)

State records showing Silver Oak has the capacity to house 96 male juveniles ages 14 to 18. The privately run facility is overseen as an interagency partnership with the Maryland Department of Human Services and the Department of Juvenile Services.

More recent local emergency management records describe the current program as serving up to 24 male youths with high-acuity mental health and trauma-related needs in a foster care-like environment.

Assault reported

DeWees said that despite more than 60 staff members, the population as the time of the recent incident was a low as six students.

“For the amount of staff that they have, I don’t think there have been more any more than 10 or 12 students there,” DeWees said.

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The sheriff asserted that staff have told him and his deputies that they are discouraged from contacting law enforcement while on duty and managing potentially violent situations internally.

We had a staffer walk into our office [on Monday] to report an assault,” DeWees said. “The staffer disclosed to us that they came here while they were off work because they were told not to come and make a call during the day because it’s not looking good for them if staff were claiming they were assaulted.”

Rexrode was asked by Spotlight on Maryland if staff and juveniles were safe, given the large number of calls for intervention from the sheriff’s office.

Dana Rexrode is the executive director of Rites of Passage’s eastern district, the private organization that operates Silver Oak Academy in Carroll County, Md. (Steve Pierce/Spotlight on Maryland)

“We greatly respect our staff and we encourage them to reach out to law enforcement if they feel that they need to do so,” Rexrode said.

Costs to taxpayers

Meanwhile, DeWees said that, besides being worried about the welfare of his deputies, he is alarmed by the costs of Silver Oak’s program to taxpayers.

According to public records reviewed by Spotlight on Maryland, Rite of Passage receives approximately $893 per day per youth housed at Silver Oak. Extrapolated out, that figure amounts to roughly $326,000 annually per occupied bed.

“I almost feel like the state is writing a blank check to Rite of Passage and they’re just simply cashing the checks,” DeWees said.

Rite of Passage is headquartered in Nevada. The organization operates similar alternative youth programs around the country.

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Silver Oak operates on the site of the former Bowling Brook Preparatory School, a juvenile facility that long faced controversy, including past investigations into serious incidents and litigation involving a youth death and safety failures. Another private organization operated the location during the time of the incident.

DeWees said that prior youth death years ago remains top of mind.

“What keeps me up is I’ve seen that particular facility, under that particular group [Rite of Passage], not work,” DeWees said. “It’s absolutely a recipe for disaster.”

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.

Maryland would ban employers from mandating that workers attend meetings where management opines on politics, religion, or union membership, under legislation heading to Gov. Wes Moore (D) for his signature.

The legislation (SB 417) bars businesses from firing or otherwise penalizing employees or job applicants who refuse to attend “captive audience” meetings covering those topics. Labor advocates say businesses often use the meetings to discourage their employees from forming or joining a union, potentially violating their rights under federal labor law.

The state House passed the Democratic-sponsored bill Wednesday, after it won Senate approval March 23 by a vote of 31-12.

If enacted, the bill would take effect Oct. 1 and put Maryland in the company of at least a dozen states with similar captive audience bans. Business and political advocacy groups have sued to challenge the laws in four states, arguing they violate employers’ First Amendment rights and are preempted by the National Labor Relations Act.

The Maryland measure empowers the state labor commissioner to investigate workers’ complaints of alleged violations. The commissioner could assess penalties of $10,000 for a first violation and $25,000 for subsequent violations, along with other relief such as reinstating a terminated employee.

Alaska, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington state have similar laws on the books.

A judge blocked enforcement of California’s law in September, while courts have ruled against the challengers to Connecticut, Illinois, and Minnesota statutes.