By Michael Phillips – Originally published on MDBayNews and Fatherand.Co on October 23, 2025.
In a letter released on October 22, 2025, Maryland’s Department of Human Services (DHS) confirmed what advocates had long suspected but could never prove: 990 children in state foster care have been reported missing between January 1, 2020, and August 17, 2025.
The data, disclosed through an MPIA request filed by survivor-advocates Jennifer Guskin and Bailey Templeton, offers the first detailed look at how many children disappear while under Maryland’s supervision—and how quietly the system has been redefining what “missing” means.
“Let that sink in—nearly 1,000 children under state supervision have gone missing in just five years,” Guskin said. “Most are teenage girls, and even toddlers are being labeled as ‘runaways.’”
The Numbers the State Couldn’t Hide
According to DHS, the Child, Juvenile and Adult Management System (CJAMS) listed 990 unique youth as either runaway or unknown whereabouts during the five-year period. Of those:
| Age group | Children |
|---|---|
| 0 – 9 yrs | 29 |
| 10 – 13 yrs | 66 |
| 14 – 17 yrs | 585 |
| 18 + yrs | 310 |
| Total | 990 |
| Gender | Count |
|---|---|
| Female | 562 |
| Male | 417 |
| Transgender | 11 |
| Year status began | Youth |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 301 |
| 2021 | 266 |
| 2022 | 226 |
| 2023 | 254 |
| 2024 | 274 |
| 2025 (partial) | 166 |
| Total | 990 |
Median duration of missing status: 26 days. DHS notes that the count represents unique youth, not incidents—meaning a child who disappeared multiple times is still only counted once.
The geographical pattern is stark:
| Jurisdiction | Youth Missing |
|---|---|
| Baltimore City | 411 |
| Baltimore County | 181 |
| Prince George’s | 97 |
| Anne Arundel | 42 |
| Montgomery | 43 |
| Harford | 31 |
| Howard | 29 |
| Cecil | 23 |
| Frederick | 14 |
| St. Mary’s | 14 |
| Washington | 33 |
| Wicomico | 10 |
| Worcester | 10 |
| Others (<10 each) | * |
| Total | 990 |
(Counts under ten withheld by DHS to protect privacy.)
The 2021 Sleight-of-Hand
Before 2021, DHS classified missing foster youth as either “runaway” or “unknown whereabouts.” That year, the department merged the two categories, explaining in the MPIA letter that the change was intended “to streamline reporting.”
The decision had dramatic consequences. The new, single label now covers:
- Children who truly ran away.
- Children abducted by parents or guardians.
- Children whose whereabouts were never confirmed by caseworkers.
Under this merged system, even toddlers and infants are statistically classified as “runaways.”
“Maryland merged the ‘unknown whereabouts’ category with ‘runaway’ in 2021, which means that even children whose locations were simply unaccounted for are now buried under a single label,” Templeton said in a public post. “That’s not transparency — that’s concealment.”
The change is codified under Policy #23-01 and COMAR 07.02.11.18 (Children and Young Adults in State Care or Under State Supervision Who Are Missing). Its intent, according to DHS, was to “standardize recordkeeping.” Its effect was to erase the distinction between a teenager on the run and a child who simply vanished.
When Even Toddlers ‘Run Away’
The presence of 29 children under age 9 in the state’s missing-youth data defies logic. Children that young cannot “run away.” Their cases raise the possibility of abductions, record-keeping failures, or far worse — but the state’s own reporting structure makes it impossible to know which.
“If a seven-year-old vanishes and no one knows where she is,” Templeton said, “she’s now simply listed as a ‘runaway.’ That’s not transparency — that’s concealment.”
Without outcome data, Maryland can’t say how many of the 990 children were ever located or how many remain missing.
A System in Collapse
Maryland’s foster care system has long shown cracks. The state’s placement rate is among the highest in the Mid-Atlantic region, but its oversight lags behind national standards. Caseworkers routinely carry overloaded caseloads, and the CJAMS database — intended to modernize reporting — has been criticized for lacking real-time tracking.
In February 2025, federal monitors recommended penalties after Maryland failed to report complete data on children hospitalized or deceased while in care. Earlier audits flagged inconsistent documentation of runaway episodes.
Despite those warnings, Maryland’s 2022 Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) — a federal audit requiring states to account for 99 percent of children within 24 hours — gave the state a passing score. The CFSR never addressed the category merge.
Who’s Responsible?
Responsibility spans local Departments of Social Services, the state DHS leadership, and ultimately the Governor’s office. Governor Wes Moore’s office did not respond to requests for comment. DHS Secretary Rafael López declined an interview but acknowledged “ongoing efforts to enhance data accuracy and recovery coordination.”
Advocates say the system remains fundamentally broken. Federal funding under Title IV-E rewards states for keeping children in foster care longer but offers no equivalent incentive for safe reunification or prevention.
“Maryland can prosecute a parent for neglect,” Templeton said, “but when the state itself loses hundreds of kids, no one is held accountable.”
The Survivors Who Refused to Stop Asking
Guskin and Templeton are both survivors of childhood abuse connected to child-welfare systems. They now lead the Family Forward Project, a coalition of families, advocates, and attorneys pushing for federal oversight and the new Advocates for Families Act, expected to be introduced in Congress this week.
“The only thing they wanted from me throughout the case was to stop posting on social media,” Guskin said. “I refused — and that’s why we’re here today fighting for transparency.”
Her efforts have expanded far beyond Maryland. On social media as @CTSurvivor17, Guskin announced plans to file FOIA requests in every state to determine how many children have disappeared from state custody nationwide.
“One project I’m working on is to FOIA every state in the country to get information on the children who have gone missing within the various child-welfare systems,” she wrote.
Their work is drawing attention on Capitol Hill, where they plan to present data to lawmakers and push for federal accountability standards.
Outcomes So Far
The DHS letter offers no recovery data — how many children were found, alive or deceased, or how long they were missing. Median duration (26 days) suggests some cases resolve quickly, but advocates warn it masks long-term disappearances. In some cases, children have been missing for over a year.
MDBayNews has submitted follow-up MPIA requests for aggregate outcome data, recovery rates, and the 2021 internal memo that authorized the category merge.
The Moral Emergency
When the state takes custody of a child, it assumes a duty to protect. Losing track of nearly 1,000 children is not a data error — it’s a betrayal of that duty.
“When the state fails to protect its most vulnerable children,” Templeton said, “it’s not a political issue — it’s a moral emergency.”
What Comes Next
The Family Forward Project is expanding its transparency work nationwide, planning to file FOIA and Public Information Act requests across all 50 states to uncover how many children have gone missing while in foster care. Their goal, Guskin says, is to ensure every state publicly reports missing-child data in a standardized format — and that governments are held accountable for children who disappear while in their custody.
“Transparency, awareness, and accountability — that’s what we’re fighting for,” Guskin said. “Because the children still missing deserve names, not statistics.”
MDBayNews plans to pursue additional Maryland records, including detailed outcome data for the 990 cases, documentation of the 2021 DHS category merge, and information about the 29 youngest children listed as “runaways” or “unknown whereabouts.”
Results will be published as they are released.
Until then, one question remains unanswered: Where did Maryland’s missing foster children go — and why did no one notice sooner?
Sources:
Maryland Department of Human Services, MPIA #25-120 (Released Oct 22 2025); COMAR 07.02.11.18; DHS Policy #23-01; CFSR 2022 Summary Report; Interviews and posts by Jennifer Guskin and Bailey Templeton.
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About the Author
Michael Phillips is an investigative journalist and founder of The Thunder Report, MDBayNews, and Father & Co., covering truth, reform, and accountability.
