20070313 Community Rallies behind Bowling Brook

Community Rallies behind Bowling Brook

March 13th, 2007

Cross-posted from the Winchester Report

www.thewestminstereagle.com

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpID=978&NewsID=789755&CategoryID=18298&show=localnews&om=1

03/13/07
by Kevin Dayhoff
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On March 2, Bowling Brook Preparatory Academy in Keymar announced that after 50 years in operation, it would close on March 9.

The closing comes in the wake of the death of one of the students on January 23.

Since the closing was announced, many Carroll Countians have rallied in support of the academy suggesting that it would be better to meaningfully address and correct what precipitated the tragedy than close the academy.

Delegate Donald Elliott said the day Bowling Brook closed “was a sad day and it is my hope that it will again be restored to a place in the juvenile services system.

“Over the years we have all had contact with the young men from Bowling Brook, it was always a very positive experience,” he said. “In fact, where other places have difficulty hosting a juvenile services facility, Bowling Brook has enjoyed the affection of the community.”

Delegate Nancy Stocksdale recounted many experiences in which the young men of Bowling Brook had left a positive impression upon her and the community. (She has circulating a letter about Bowling Brook. Please find it below.)

She said that she has been “grieving just as if it was my school.”

Delegate Stocksdale added that if this terrible incident had happened in another facility… she doubted that the state would’ve closed down the whole place. “You take care of the problem. You fix it. Instead of isolating a tragic instant from the rest of the good work of the institution (the state) choose to convict the entire school.”

Tom Welliver said, “I have worked closely with these young men on numerous occasions. They were well mannered, respectful - and assisted with tremendously positive attitudes.”

For many years, the Bowling Brook students helped with the Union Bridge town hall funding breakfasts. Perry Jones, former County Commissioner and former Union Bridge mayor said, “Union Bridge had a very positive experience with Bowling Brook and I share everyone’s hope that it is able to re-open in the future and its good work continues.”

Larry Collins, Carroll County Agriculture Center General Manager said, “The young men from Bowling Brook have been to the Ag Center many times and served in many different capacities… They have been excellent across the board. It would be a shame to lose such an important resource in our community.”

The Junior Woman’s Club of Westminster is circulating a letter which cites that Bowling Brook had “an 86 percent success rate. (Please find a copy of the letter below.)

Only 14 percent of the youth were arrested or referred back to the state agency within a year of their release. … The state average for group homes is 50 percent, but we have heard as low as 10 percent success rates. … We hate to see the success of the program overrun by this one failure.”

It is rare that a community rallies to have a juvenile facility in their own back yard. But all of us have a stake in saving young men for a productive future and in those efforts; Bowling Brook is part of the answer.

What is now necessary is for Maryland Juvenile Services Secretary Donald W. DeVore and Gov. Martin O’Malley to hear from Carroll County citizens who care about Bowling Brook and the future of the young men this facility worked so hard to help. Encourage them to take fresh look at re-opening Bowling Brook.

Please review the letters from the Delegate Nancy Stocksdale and the Junior Woman’s Club of Westminster and then find a moment of your time to write to: Governor Martin O’Malley, Office of the Governor, 100 State Circle, Annapolis, MD 21401-1925, and Maryland Juvenile Services Secretary Donald W. DeVore, One Center Plaza, 120 W. Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.

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From: Delegate Nancy Stocksdale

Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 3:30 PM

Subject: Bowling Brook Preparatory School

Dear Friends:

I am writing concerning the Bowling Brook Preparatory School which is located in Keymar, a rural area of Carroll County.

I am saddened by the loss of a student there, and I offer my sincerest sympathy to his mother. I do not know all the circumstances, but I have always believed in the school and its program. Unfortunately, the Public Defender, Nancy Forster, made a statement on the day of this tragic event that she was “closing this school down because it is not safe.” She then proceeded to remove all the Maryland students.

I have attended awards luncheons at Bowling Brook where I witnessed the tears of the mothers who were so proud of the positive changes they saw as they watched their sons receive awards for their accomplishments in the program. I have seen the many trophy cases displaying the trophies earned from the achievements of the sports teams, and I have seen the pride in the faces of the students as they moved up through the ranks and accepted greater responsibility as “thoroughbreds,” a designation for seniors.

I have had an interest in that school since I first went there in 1993 on a tour with Congressman Bartlett. As a retired teacher, I have a special interest in the educational program at Bowling Brook, and I learned that approximately 80% of the students there pass the GED test. I think this is a great accomplishment considering the fact that some students come there with a 3rd grade reading level. Professors from Carroll Community College teach on the Bowling Brook campus, and students have earned as many as 21 college credits. Other students take vocational classes at Frederick Community College learning trades such as bricklaying and landscaping.

You may have seen the students competing in sports at our local schools or working for one of the many non-profit organizations in our communities. I know they have helped the Elmer Wolfe Elementary School, Westminster Fallfest, Union Bridge town breakfasts, Carroll Lutheran School consignment sale, and I am sure there are others. The students are always polite, well groomed, well mannered, and hard working.

They have been there for us and now I am asking that you help troubled youth who may benefit from Bowling Brook’s program by writing letters of support for the Bowling Brook Preparatory School to Governor Martin O’Malley at http://www.governor.maryland.gov/mail (telephone: 410-974-3901), and Donald DeVore, the Secretary of Juvenile Services at devored@djs.state.md.us (telephone: 410-230-3101).

I would appreciate it if you would ask as many people as you know, who are familiar with the school or who have attended functions where the Bowling Brook boys helped, to write letters or make phone calls. Although it may already be too late, Governor O’Malley will realize how we feel about the successful program. While many communities fight to keep juvenile facilities out of their neighborhoods, we need to fight to keep these good neighbors.

Thank you. I am grateful for your support.

Sincerely,

/s/

Nancy R. Stocksdale

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Governor Martin O’Malley

Office of the Governor

100 State Circle

Annapolis, MD 21401-1925

March 8, 2007

Dear Governor,

The purpose of this letter is to inform you of the importance of the Bowling Brook Preparatory School in our county. I am a resident of Carroll County and a member of the GFWC Junior Woman’s Club of Westminster. We are a part of an international non-profit volunteer organization called the General Federation of Women’s Clubs that serves the needs of our community.

Through our group’s events, we have had the experience to work on volunteer projects with the Bowling Brook students. It has always been a very positive experience working with these students. Every single one of them seemed eager to help, was extremely polite and greatly added to the efficiency of our event. Without their help – our work and time would be doubled. In our interactions with the students, they have shared their thoughts on the Bowling Brook program and how it has improved their lives.

In light of the serious issue that has occurred over the past few weeks at the school, our organization still strongly supports keeping this program open. There have been so many successes that have kept hundreds of young adults from returning to the penal system or a life of criminal behavior. On Oct 5, 2005, the Baltimore Sun quoted an 86 percent success rate. Only 14 percent of the youth were arrested or referred back to the state agency within a year of their release. They also said that the state average for group homes is 50 percent, but we have heard as low as 10 percent success rates. 80 percent of these boys are graduating from High School. We hate to see the success of the program overrun by this one failure.

Our hope is that you will see the positive impact Bowling Brook School has had on our community and reopen it with appropriate guidelines to protect the students in the program

Sincerely,

A member of GFWC Junior Woman’s Club of Westminster

Westminster, MD 21158

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20070314 Bowling Brook, a sad tale of several tragedies

Bowling Brook, a sad tale of several tragedies

“Bowling Brook: A Sad Tale”

http://www.thetentacle.com/author.cfm?MyAuthor=41

The Tentacle[1] - March 14, 2007 by Kevin Dayhoff (1335 words)

Last January 23 one of the very young men that Bowling Brook Preparatory Academy had tried so hard to mold into a lifetime of hope and future, Isaiah Simmons III, 17, died at the academy.

The death of the young man is tragic and our hearts and prayers go out to the young man’s family. The tragedy is exacerbated in that the young man who had expressed anger over an absent father now leaves behind a daughter who was 22 months old at the time of his death.

In published accounts, the mother of his child, a 10th grade student, “was having a hard time accepting Simmons' death.”

Mr. Simmons, who had only arrived at the academy two weeks earlier, ran afoul of the law after committing an armed robbery. Published accounts report that he had “used a box cutter to rob another juvenile of a cell phone.”

He died while being physically restrained after it is alleged that he threatened to shoot another student. In a January 27 Bowling Brook press release it was revealed, “When Isaiah became threatening, our staff responded for his safety and the safety of others. Isaiah's aggressive behavior continued over a period of time during which he was restrained humanely consistent with state-approved discipline policies and counseled throughout to de-escalate the crisis.”

A transcript of the 911 tape reveals a Bowling Brook employee saying, “It was the same thing we do all the time when we have an aggressive kid. I don't know what happened. He was in a restraint, and then he stopped responding.”

For many years Bowling Brook, which was founded in 1957, has accepted juvenile offenders into the academy. On January 23 there were 170 young men at the academy. 74 were guests of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services.

Bowling Brook had developed a reputation, not as much as a juvenile services facility but more like an elite private school that became a nationwide model for everything that could be done right in an effort to truly give young men a second chance and mold them into productive futures from an uncertain past.

In recent years, as the state has poured $737,000 into capital improvements for the facility, Bowling Brook Academy had come to be considered “a highly touted private residential treatment facility for aggressively adjudicated young men” according to the 2004 – 2005 annual report of the Office of the Independent Juvenile Justice Monitor.

As other state-run juvenile facilities were being closed, Bowling Brook, with the encouragement, aid, and support of the state, had grown to fill a needed gap as to where to treat juvenile offenders as their numbers exploded.

The numbers are mind-numbingly. Governor Martin O’Malley’s “Transition Committee for Juvenile Services Report,” issued on February 21, 2007 cites: “In 2005, the agency served 4,888 youth on probation, 1,681 in community-based aftercare, and over 2,400 in committed placements. The Department received over 53,000 intake referrals in 2005, but many youth were referred multiple times. The Committee strongly recommends that the new administration proceed quickly with making strategic, evidence-based reforms and that it avoid repeating the mistakes of past administrations by addressing problems proactively.”

These numbers have been increasing for many years. The Maryland General Assembly’s response, even after legislation was enacted in 2004 mandating regional facilities of no more than 48 juvenile offenders, was to overwhelmingly pass House Bill 1148 and Senate Bill 503 in 2005 exempting Bowling Brook from the 48 juvenile capacity limit.

The state’s reliance on Bowling Brook had become increasingly desperate after Maryland closed the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School on June 30, 2005 after a federal lawsuit accused the state of failing to protect juvenile offenders from physical violence. Over and over again, Bowling Brook stepped up to the plate to fill in the gaps.

After investigating the Hickey School and the Cheltenham Youth Facility in Prince George's County for two years, the U. S. Justice Department had issued a scathing report in 2004. The report revealed that there was a “deeply disturbing degree of physical abuse" by staff and examples “in which staff members did not intervene in fights…” according to the Washington Post.

For many years and several administrations, Maryland has grappled with how to respond to what some consider an epidemic of youthful offenders. There has been legislation, reports, outside independent committees, joint legislative committees, public outcry, lawsuits, and an enormous amount of money spent.

However the governor’s transition committee which had examined the Department of Juvenile Services said in the second sentence of their report, “We discovered an agency that is dangerously dysfunctional, trapped in a cycle of reacting to scandals and deferring proactive reforms.”

But throughout all the years of hand wringing and the gnashing of teeth over what to do about an adequate and appropriate approach to saving youthful offenders and restoring them to productive lives; one institution was being heaped with praise – Bowling Brook.

In an October 5, 2005 Baltimore Sun article, “Susan B. Leviton, who heads the juvenile law clinic at the University of Maryland,” was quoted to say, “It's a fantastic program.”

The article noted that Stacey Gurian-Sherman, who heads an advocacy group for families of delinquents, calls Bowling Brook “a model residential facility, and it's right in our own backyard… The one drawback to Bowling Brook is there is only one of them… We need to be building more Bowling Brooks.”

At a time when Maryland continues to face a structural deficit, the article recited, “The cost of the nonprofit school is $41,000 a year per student – less than the $65,000 a year the state spends to keep a youth at Hickey.”

Yet, on March 2 another tragedy occurred when it was announced that the Bowling Brook would close. For many the decision to close the school is illogical at best. Why not meaningfully address and correct the factors that precipitated the tragedy but otherwise support the one very juvenile services facility in the state that is making a positive difference. The tragic death of this young man is situational problem – not systemic. Fix the problem.

This tragedy shocks everyone, but the reaction to a problem must never exacerbate the problem or exceed prudence. Ironically, the closure of Bowling Brook is now part of the problem. Closing Bowling Brook is certainly not “addressing problems proactively” with “strategic, evidence-based reforms.”

Within days of the announcement to close the academy, the governor announced the need to spend $6.8 million dollars to re-open the Victor Cullen juvenile facility – for 48 students. Spending $6.8M on Victor Cullen is not the answer. The answer is Bowling Brook.

Since the announcement that Bowling Brook was closing, public officials and private citizens alike have publicly touted Bowling Brook for the good work they have accomplished with hundreds – if not thousands - of young men over the last fifty years and how the academy has positively interwoven itself into the Carroll County community fabric.

A letter being circulated by the Junior Woman’s Club of Westminster says, “On Oct 5, 2005, the Baltimore Sun quoted an 86% success rate. Only 14% of the youth were arrested or referred back to the state agency within a year of their release… The state average for group homes is 50%, but we have heard as low as 10% success rates. 80% of these boys are graduating from High School. We hate to see the success of the program overrun by this one failure.”

It is rare that a community rallies to have a juvenile facility in our own back yard. But Bowling Brook is one of the rare examples of leadership and excellence in our world today.

This is the third Maryland administration in a row to get handed this mess. The solution is to not duplicate past mistakes, but build upon what has been done well. Bowling Brook has done it well and is part of the solution.

In a clearer light and with a fresh look, many hope that Governor O’Malley will reassess the decision to close the facility.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.
E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr AT org

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20070308 Winchester Report: “A Sordid Saga.”

Winchester Report: “A Sordid Saga.”

“Union Mills reservoir and the pumpkin patch”

As appeared in my “Winchester Report” blog on the Westminster Eagle web site:

A sordid saga of communists, reservoirs, congressman, and pumpkins

Note: see also, “20070307 A sordid saga of communists, reservoirs, congressman, and pumpkins ” on “Soundtrack.”

By Kevin Dayhoff March 8th, 2007

Contrary to what is being circulated; the Union Mills reservoir project in Carroll County will add another layer of protection to the site of the “pumpkin papers,” and this national treasure is not threatened.

Recently the old Whittaker Chambers “pumpkin patch&...[Read full story]

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A sordid saga of communists, reservoirs, congressman, and pumpkins

03/08/07

By Kevin Dayhoff

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Contrary to what is being circulated; the Union Mills reservoir project in Carroll County will add another layer of protection to the site of the “pumpkin papers,” and this national treasure is not threatened.

Recently the old Whittaker Chambers “pumpkin patch” farm just north of Westminster, in Carroll County Maryland has resurfaced in the news.

The Chambers’ Pipe Creek Farm was the scene of the “pumpkin papers” incident in which a former communist spy; Whittaker Chambers, defected to become a champion of the anti-communist cause at the beginnings of the cold war in 1948.

Mr. Chambers hid U.S. State Department documents in hollowed-out pumpkins on his Carroll County farm. Once he gave the documents to then- Congressman Richard Nixon, the entire issue of communists and communism in the United States gripped the nation for many years in what has become known as the “McCarthy era.”

The “pumpkin papers” named a local Baltimorean and Baltimore City High School and Johns Hopkins University graduate, Alger Hiss, as a communist spy.

The national, if not international story of intrigue, spies, and the beginnings of the cold war all took place in Carroll County with roles played by Carroll County and Baltimore citizens.

It is now almost 60 years later and intrigue and conspiracy continue to abound.

Since January, Carroll County officials have been plagued with persistent rumors and conspiracy theories, some of which have been published in local newspapers, that Carroll County wants to “seize” the old Chambers “pumpkin patch” farm. Good folks, good journalists and conspiratorialists alike have been “had” by this misinformation.

The misinformation seems to continue to grow legs and is about as far from the position of Carroll County officials as one could get. Carroll County is not trying to take the farm.

I attended what appears to be the genesis of the misinformation; the December 14th, 2006 “Public Hearing ~ Carroll County Water & Sewerage Master Plan.”

The public hearing was poorly attended except for a couple of gentleman who politely and eloquently expressed concern for their property which seemed to be involved in the proposed reservoir. Anyone can understand that. However, assurances were made by county officials that they were sensitive to the concerns of the citizens.

Somehow, from there, the alarm was quickly spread that the county was about to begin “seizing” land for the project even though that has not been the practice and policy of past commissioners and there seems to be no indication by the present Carroll County Board of Commissioners to go in that direction.

But, the casual reader and any person seriously interested in this aspect of our national history could read certain news accounts and walk away with the impression that the pumpkin patch will cease to exist as a result of the reservoir project. This is not true.

In the Internet age, where news is 24/seven, there is an epidemic of misinformation getting legs and if it is repeated often enough “it becomes true.”

Folks who have been “had” by the great “seizing” conspiracy are in good company - with ah, count them, 12 members of Congress who wrote to the Carroll County Board of Commissioners on January 12th, 2007.

They wrote, in part;

“We are writing to express our support for continued preservation of an important National Historic Landmark located within Carroll County, known as Pipe Creek Farm. All steps must be taken to preserve the integrity of this property, having served as the home of a great patriot and noted author, Whittaker Chambers.”

So far – so good. From what I am aware of the attitude of Carroll County officials, they are also interested in “preserve(ing) the integrity of this property.”

So what is the problem?

It’s in the next paragraph:

“We understand that the Carroll County Commissioners are considering a water plan that includes the creation of a Union Mills reservoir which, if completed, would destroy a significant portion of this national treasure…”

The letter is signed by Members of Congress, Ros-Lehtine, Bartlett, Gilchrest, Mario Diaz-Balart, Wolf, Wilson, King, Bordallo (from Guam,) Feeney, Boozman, McCotter and Lincoln Diaz-Balart.

Well, it is true that the Commissioners are considering the creation of a Union Mills Reservoir. As has been considered since the mid 1970s when the City of Westminster first proposed the reservoir.

As I wrote on February 28th, 2007 in my Westminster Eagle column titled, “Recalling when B's Coffee Shoppe was all abuzz:”

In line with expanding the city's water supplies, in the mid-1970s, plans were made for Westminster to build another reservoir, this one to be located on Big Pipe Creek in Union Mills.

When the $5 million dollar reservoir was presented to the public, the public rose up in arms saying the city did not need the water and that the project was a waste of ratepayer money.

By September 1976, the project was shelved.

History, of course, has proven that the council was correct in pursuing the project and we would be in a lot different position today if it had been allowed to go forward.

However, fast forwarding to today, the waters of the proposed reservoir will hardly come within a mile of the present day unmarked location of the “pumpkin patch” which now rests in an otherwise nondescript field.

The Carroll County officials who are in a decision making role in this matter are keenly, and personally, interested in preserving the integrity of the site of the “pumpkin papers” – so it is simply baffling as to how this matter got all wound around the axles of misinformation.

Why didn’t the gang of 12 Congressmen contact Carroll County officials before they sent the letter? Every member of Congress who did contact Carroll County officials did NOT send a letter.

Unfortunately another one of the Congressman who has been “had” in this saga was Congressman Roscoe Bartlett who wrote to the Carroll County Board of Commissioners on January 3rd, 2007.

Congressman Bartlett wrote in part:

“It is my hope that the Commissioners of Carroll County will value, even treasure, this very special farm, that you will do all in your power to keep it whole, and protect its integrity for this and future generations to study and know.”

And here lies the really bizarre part of the story. Contrary to what is being circulated, the Union Mills reservoir project will add another layer of historic protection to the site of the “pumpkin papers,” which is already in agricultural preservation -- and preserve the site in perpetuity.

This is a good thing. The county wants a watershed protection easement which will concurrently give the site addition historic protection.

Click Here to See a PDF of a County Map Depicting the Historic Chambers Farm in Relation to the Proposed Union Mills Reservoir

The “lake” area of the Union Mills reservoir will only encompass approximately 325 acres. The balance of the 2,200 acres needed by the County that surround the “lake” are for the purposes of watershed protection. The county commissioners have reported that the county already owns 1500 acres of the needed watershed protection area – to be preserved in perpetuity.

Nevertheless, in situations like the Chambers Pipe Creek Farm, where the county can get a watershed protection easement on the property, rather than purchasing it, this is a good thing.

This watershed protection will add an additional layer of protection for the historic “pumpkin papers” site, which again, is almost a mile from the waterline.

In a response to Congressman Bartlett’s January 3rd, 2007 letter, which he penned in addition to the gang of twelve Congressmen’s January 12, 2007 letter, the Carroll County Board of Commissioners wrote on January 18th, 2007:

“With regard to the Pipe Creek Farm specifically, Carroll County has no intention of negatively impacting the field identified as the location of the famed “pumpkin patch” and has designed the reservoir in a way that minimizes impacts on the balance of the farm. Indeed, the impact anticipated by the planned reservoir… is limited to the northeastern edge of the farm where the Pipe Creek stream crosses the property.

The Pipe Creek farm is already protected from future residential development by easement sold to the Maryland Agricultural land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) in 2001. Carroll County has no interest in acquiring Pipe Creek Farm land for the purpose of constructing the reservoir beyond… the ‘normal pool level.’ We estimate this direct impact on the Pipe Creek farm to equal roughly 15.5 acres. The balance of the farm, approximately 346.5 acres, remains undisturbed and under the full control and ownership of its present owner…”

On a final note, the Union Mills reservoir was needed and should have been built in the 1970s. The need for water in Carroll County has been a basic health, safety, and welfare concern for public officials in Carroll County since the terrible drought of 2002.

To not go forward with the Union Mills reservoir would be an abrogation of one of the basic responsibilities of elected officials to Carroll County’s citizens. NIMBYism and misinformation cannot prevail.

In their January 18th, 2007 letter, the Carroll County Board of commissioners wrote:

“The need for a surface water supply for communities in northern Carroll County is real. We also believe that protecting and preserving nationally recognized sites of historic significance and irreplaceable farmland is equally important to our local, state and national well being.

Our reservoir concept, with minimal impact to the Pipe Creek Farm, satisfies both of these fundamental principles of government: protecting our past while planning for our future.”

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