Youth

Starting today, the city Department of Recreation and Parks plans to provide free summer camps for some Baltimore youths for the first time in nearly two decades, officials said. "Budget cuts forced many of these programs to stop in the late 1970s, so this will be the first time in 20 years that a lot of these playgrounds will host free summer programs," said Lynn Baker, assistant to the director of Recreation and Parks. Offered through a grant from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program received through the Department of Social Services, the "Playground Program" will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays through Aug. 11. Children ages 5 to 12 will participate in sports, take nature classes, produce arts and crafts, and work on fitness.

Baltimore's Summer Curfew Center reopened Friday for the sixth season in an attempt to keep youths off the streets overnight, hold parents accountable and connect families to services, the mayor's office said. The center, at 200 East North Ave., will be open Fridays and Saturdays from 11:30 p.m. to 4 a.m. through Aug. 25. Youths on the street after the city's weekend curfew of midnight may be brought to the center by police. Parents or guardians are contacted to come for their children.

Had you been sitting near me at the paragraph factory yesterday evening, you might have noticed a clenching of the jaw, a narrowing of the eyes, and a pursing of the lips as I came across the construction "7,000 youth. " A quick look this morning at the Corpus of Contemporary American English confirms my suspicion that I have identified another instance of bureaucratic language bleeding into general usage.* The CCAE shows multiple examples of youth in the sense of youths , individual young people, in professional medical and educational publications, fewer frequencies in general publications.

The state Board of Public Works' vote Wednesday to allow the privately operated Silver Oak Academy juvenile treatment center in Carroll County to double in capacity is regrettable not only because it violates the state's own policy of limiting such facilities to no more than 48 beds but because it sets a troubling precedent for how the state will handle future shortages of treatment slots for juveniles. If the goal is to help troubled youngsters get their lives back on track, the state would have done far better if it had accelerated long-delayed plans to build two new, smaller facilities in Baltimore City and Prince George's County.

We no longer have children or kids or teenagers or young people. We used to have them, but now we just have youth .  Youth  used to be a singular, that thing that is wasted on the young, or the individual in the Sydney Smith screed about taxation: "The schoolboy whips his taxed top; the beardless youth manages his taxed horse with a taxed bridle on a taxed road; and the dying Englishman, pouring his medicine, which has paid seven...

Mixing kids and coffee is typically ill advised, but in the case of Brian and Holly Gray, the combination has yielded pleasant results. Last August the couple opened Creating Unlimited Possibilities — CUPs — Coffeehouse in Southwest Baltimore's Hollins Market community to give disconnected youth a chance to gain basic job and life skills. Like the Rev. C.W. Harris, who was profiled in a previous Sun article, their work was awarded a $15,000 grant by BMe (Black Male Engagement)

Your recent editorial on the proposed expansion of the Silver Oak Academy juvenile resident treatment facility failed to address the immediate need for additional treatment beds for youthful offenders ("Backsliding at DJS," Jan. 7). Far from "backsliding," the Department of Juvenile Services is showing great foresight in seeking capacity to treat youth who would otherwise be in detention while waiting for a vacant treatment bed and not getting credit for their time in detention. The simple reality is that we do not have enough space in state-run facilities for youth awaiting treatment.

City police have made an arrest in a double-shooting Wednesday that killed a 31-year-old man - charging a 19-year-old man who relatives say was part of a youth mentoring program the victim worked with.  Antomar Jones has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder for the shooting in the 5700 block of Nasco Place that killed Corey Jamal Alexander and injured a second 31-year-old man. Police say Jones was in the backseat of a...

A Baltimore County delegate said Wednesday that the governor should send in the Maryland State Police to control "roving mobs of black youths" at Baltimore's Inner Harbor, prompting a colleague to label the message "race-baiting. " Del. Patrick L. McDonough, a Republican whose district includes part of Harford County, distributed a news release with the headline: "Black Youth Mobs Terrorize Baltimore on Holidays. " In it, McDonough said he had sent a letter to Gov. Martin O'Malley urging him to use the state police to help prevent attacks and to declare the Inner Harbor area a "no-travel zone" until safety can be guaranteed.

Thanks for the excellent commentary on the problems facing Baltimore's downtown waterfront ("City or oasis on the water?" June 12). It would be great if our Baltimore County politicos such as Del. Patrick McDonough and Sen. James Brochin began looking for solutions and assisting the city. Sadly the majority of Baltimore citizens live in severe poverty. We must invest in our youth through good education and meaningful jobs. Lissa Abrams, Baltimore

The state Board of Public Works voted Wednesday to allow a Carroll County treatment center for juveniles to double its size to 96 beds — twice the state cap of 48 — despite a policy of sending troubled teens to smaller facilities for treatment. "It's not ideal," Gov. Martin O'Malley, a member of the board, said after voting for the expansion. "It's not ideal at all. " But O'Malley and Sam Abed, Maryland's secretary of juvenile services, said the state had no choice but to allow the privately run Silver Oak facility to expand because more than 40 youths are languishing in state detention centers instead of getting court-mandated treatment.

The Greater Laurel United Soccer Club's (GLUSC) spring season ended on June 9; 346 boys and girls ages 3-18 took part in the program. All of this could not have been possible without the help from our dedicated volunteers. We would like to thank the following: U6: Eric Gans, Gary Aldred, Nulty Lynch, Irina Kemnitz, Jeremy Newkirk, Kisme Williams, Jared Scott, Mesmin Germain; U8 boys: Jose Chirino, Michael Feldtmose, Marlon James, Joseph Bailor, David Kirabo, Antonio Portillo, Dan Van Der Have; U8 girls: Beverly Gebhardt, Darius Helton, Dion Johnson, Jorge Martinez; U10 boys: Jaime Blanco, John Camarano, Tim Graninger, Eric Booth, Chris Kerrigan; U10 girls: Dan Beck, Peter DeMik, Dan Bowlds, Danny Ives, Chris Lockett, Jorge Martinez, Diego Rua; U12 boys: Jose Chirino, Carlos Jimenez, Sean Tran, Diego Rua; U11 girls: Erin Justice, Karen Frederick, Michael Hicks; U12 girls: Anthony Green; U14 boys: Terry Butler, Nelson Kofie; U14 girls: Joe Berry, Dave Durnbaugh; and high school boys: Beverly Gebhardt.

Mixing kids and coffee is typically ill advised, but in the case of Brian and Holly Gray, the combination has yielded pleasant results. Last August the couple opened Creating Unlimited Possibilities — CUPs — Coffeehouse in Southwest Baltimore's Hollins Market community to give disconnected youth a chance to gain basic job and life skills. Like the Rev. C.W. Harris, who was profiled in a previous Sun article, their work was awarded a $15,000 grant by BMe (Black Male Engagement)

Running Ripken Foundation sets 7K 'Streak' Sept. 6 The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation announced that it will host its inaugural "Streak Thru Aberdeen" 7K Run at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen on Sept. 6 - the anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr. breaking Lou Gehrig 's record for consecutive baseball games played. Proceeds from the 7K (4.3 miles) will support Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation programs, which help build character and teach life lessons to underserved youth residing in distressed communities through sports-themed programming.

Josh Selby has played in many different cities in the past year, but he is back in a comfortable atmosphere - at least for a little while. After a disappointing 2012-13 NBA season in which the Lake Clifton graduate bounced around with five teams in five months, Selby is returning home to Baltimore for several days to run a charity event. On Saturday, Selby is hosting the Walk-Away Campaign at Margaret Brent Elementary-Middle, an event to help combat youth violence and make Baltimore more safe.

May is Foster Care Awareness Month. Many Americans are unaware that nearly 500,000 youth are currently living in foster care and that 75 percent of them are between the ages of 12-21 years old. Each year about 300,000 youth age out of the foster care system nationally, most without any family support and facing a higher probability of unemployment or underemployment, homelessness, substance abuse and even incarceration than their peers who are not...

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has suspended its diversion programs for troubled youths, a decision that officials said is not related to a recent portrayal on the A&E network show "Beyond Scared Straight. " The programs, which typically send youths into prisons with hopes of deterring them from a life of crime by having them interact with inmates, were stopped last week, said Rick Binetti, the department's director of communications. In a Jan. 20 episode of the A&E show, set at the state's Jessup facility, an inmate threw a teenager into a bathroom to show what happens behind bars.

I was gratified to read your article on the strides Maryland has made toward reducing the number of children in foster care ("Nothing matters more … than a place to call home," Dec. 26). Every child deserves a lifelong family, no matter their background or needs. Therapeutic foster care has been part of Maryland's child welfare system since 1986, and it serves some of the state's neediest and most disabled youth. We are able to do so at a fraction of the cost of group care, and when we achieve permanency for youth who historically have been less likely to be adopted or reunified with their birth families, we save the state tens of thousands of dollars a year while giving children with special needs "forever families.

Baltimore teens Rickya'h Brooks and Marquise Robinson never really feel welcome at the Inner Harbor. They say police cast a judgmental eye on all kids who go there, especially African-Americans. And they're frustrated that the waterfront mall provides little entertainment for young people and restricts their access to shopping. They and a dozen other inner-city youths have been working for the past year on a proposal to change all that. Wednesday night, they gathered at West Shore Park to begin presenting the ideas of their Inner Harbor Project - recommendations to encourage a dialogue between youth and businesses, establish goodwill with police and limit youth-on-youth violence.

Maryland City 3-4 coed : Orange Cheetahs vs. Blue Team. Cameron Smith shined in goal for two quarters. Taylor Harley and Kyle Sargent excelled on offense. 5-6 coed: Black Fire vs. Green Cheetahs. Ronoldo Miranda and Zion Hameed led the Black Fire offense and Faizaan Pettitt the defense. The Cheetahs' Joseph Hummer played excellent in goal and Jordin Rollins and Jaden led the defense. Greater United Laurel Soccer Club U6 co-ed: Newkirk's Kickers 6 (Fred Agyeman, Jabril DeVaughn)