children in their population, the Maryland Children's Center cannot,
by itself, remove all of the detained children from the training school
population.

The Maryland General Assembly at its 1959 session authorized con-
struction funds in the amount of $455, 000 for a southern regional deten-
tion center of 40 beds. This southern regional detention center, when
placed in operation, will give the State, in combination with the
Maryland Children's Center, 96 beds for detention and study.

Children admitted to the Maryland Children's Center will be studied
and an appraisal will be made as to their physical, their intellectual,
their psychological, their educational and their social abilities and prob-
lems. The General Assembly has authorized 38 full-time positions and
several part-time contractual positions for the Maryland Children's
Center.

The staff of the Center is headed by Superintendent Poland and has
been in the process of training and preparing for the admission of the
first youngsters from the courts. The staff includes social workers,
teachers, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a pediatrician and the necessary
supervisory, clerical, business and food service and maintenance em-
ployees.

The key importance of the Maryland Children's Center in the Mary-
land State program for the institutional care of delinquent children
cannot be too heavily emphasized. It will receive more children from
the courts in a single year than any of the other State Institutions, and
while it will contribute to the reduction of the serious overcrowding at
the State training school, it also will serve the State, the children and the
courts with a much more fundamental and important program of study
and evaluation. With the Maryland Children's Center, the State of
Maryland, in the opinion of many experts, moves to the forefront of
state programs for the institutional care, the study and the treatment of
delinquent children.

I would be remiss in my duties if I were not to take this opportunity
to express, for the State, my sincere appreciation for the hard work and
for the support of all who have made it possible for the State of Mary-
land to place the Maryland Children's Center into operation.

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