Sun coverage: Teen dies at Bowling Brook

Juvenile facility transfer approved

After an intense, hourlong debate - and over the objections of the state comptroller - the Maryland Board of Public Works approved the transfer yesterday of Bowling Brook Preparatory School, clearing the way for a Nevada company to reopen the Carroll County facility for juvenile delinquents.

Youth facility in Carroll Co. could reopen

The state Department of Juvenile Services is moving to reopen Bowling Brook Preparatory School under new private management, potentially bringing back a Carroll County residence for troubled teenage boys that was closed last year when a youth died while being restrained by staff members.

1 cleared in death of teen

The charge against one of six counselors indicted in the death of an East Baltimore teen at a school for juvenile offenders has been dropped, Carroll County prosecutors said yesterday.

In memory, hope of reform

Friends and family will gather tomorrow in Westminster to remember East Baltimore teenager Isaiah Simmons, whose death at a private reformatory one year ago helped spark reforms in Maryland's long-troubled juvenile justice system.

Sun exclusive

Bowling Brook's growing pains

In a field where failure is the norm, the Bowling Brook Preparatory School seemed to be the rare program that worked.

Bowling Brook seeks a solution

Officials with Bowling Brook Preparatory School for juvenile offenders said yesterday they are working to resolve a $1.7 million debt with a local bank and hope eventually to reopen - not sell the property.

O'Malley seeking funds for juveniles

Gov. Martin O'Malley is asking the legislature to add $21 million to the budget of Maryland's troubled juvenile services system, including money to open the state's first new residential treatment program for youth offenders in more than a decade, officials said yesterday.

FBI plans probe of teen's death

On the same day the state medical examiner ruled that the death of a student at the Bowling Brook Preparatory School was a homicide, the FBI said it is conducting an independent investigation into the incident.

Youth facility will be closed

Under pressure from the state, officials at Bowling Brook Preparatory School have agreed to close the 50-year-old reformatory where a student died five weeks ago while being restrained by staff.

O'Malley criticizes juvenile officials

Gov. Martin O'Malley sharply criticized juvenile authorities yesterday for failing to respond to a school nurse's formal complaint last year about mistreatment of youths at the Bowling Brook Preparatory School, where a Baltimore teenager later died.

Nurse reported school's methods

Five months before a student at the Bowling Brook Preparatory School collapsed and died while being restrained by staff, the school's nurse told the Department of Juvenile Services that she was concerned about the safety of youths held there, according to documents obtained by The Sun.

Death probe spurs debate

A month after a youth died while being restrained at the Bowling Brook Preparatory School, authorities have not determined what caused his death or whether any laws were broken in the way the juvenile facility's staff handled him.

O'Malley backs bill on juvenile staff

Gov. Martin O'Malley is supporting legislation that would force the state to regulate staff training at private residential programs for juvenile offenders, officials said yesterday.

Reform aims at youth sites

The state would be required to oversee the training of staff at private residential programs for juvenile offenders such as the Bowling Brook Preparatory School, where a student died last month, under legislation pending in Annapolis.

Youth describes struggle with staff

At least four youths at a private residential program for juvenile offenders have independently told their lawyers that they witnessed staff members sit on a struggling Isaiah Simmons for three hours Tuesday until he passed out and died, Maryland's chief public defender said last night.

Teen dies at Bowling Brook

Sheriff's deputies and state police are investigating the death of a 17-year-old East Baltimore youth who collapsed Tuesday evening while being restrained by staff at a privately run residential program for juvenile offenders.