Maryland

Facilities in Maryland

Residential facilities providing religious, behavioral, and mental health treatment to children exist in all 50 states. Some of these facilities are known to be part of the Troubled Teen Industry, while others have not yet been verified. Any facility where children live and receive care requires additional oversight. This directory helps communities monitor local programs and advocate for accountability.

Reporting abuse in Maryland

Maryland reports abuse to the local department of social services or to local police rather than to a single statewide intake, though 1-800-91-PREVENT will take the call. It also licenses Residential Child Care programs as their own category through the Department of Human Services. One useful piece of Maryland law: since October 2016, where a local department believes a mandated reporter knowingly failed to report, it must file a complaint with that reporter's own licensing board.

Time limits in Maryland: a general guide

This was correct as far as we could tell when we checked it on 28 September 2026. Laws on time limits change often, sometimes every legislative session, so some of what follows may have been updated since. It is a starting point, not legal advice: please check with a lawyer before relying on any date here. A time limit on a lawsuit or a criminal charge is also not a time limit on telling someone, and most of the places listed below will still take a report.

Time limits for abuse of a child often run from the survivor's 18th birthday, or from when they came to understand what happened, rather than from the day the program closed. Many states have lengthened them, removed them for child sexual abuse, or reopened claims that had already expired. A criminal charge, a lawsuit and a licence complaint each have their own time limit, so one having passed does not necessarily mean the others have.

Lawsuits

Physical abuse or injury: Three years from the injury for battery, false imprisonment and negligence. A claim for assault alone (a threat without physical contact) has only one year. Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. §§ 5-101, 5-105
If it happened before you turned 18: For someone injured as a child, the clock starts at 18: three years for battery or negligence (so by the 21st birthday), and one year for assault alone. There is no longer deadline for non-sexual physical abuse of a child. Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-201
If the program was run by or for the government: Against the State: a written claim to the State Treasurer within 1 year of the injury, and suit within 3 years. Against a county or city: written notice within 1 year of the injury under the Local Government Tort Claims Act. Md. Code, State Gov't § 12-106; Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-304
Child sexual abuse: There is no SOL for CSA, trafficking, and CSAM claims, and all claims against all defendants are permanently revived. CHILD USA's summary

Criminal charges

Physical child abuse: Less certain No time limit. Child abuse by a parent, household member or anyone with care or custody of a minor is a felony in Maryland, and Maryland has no statute of limitations for felonies. Md. Code, Crim. Law § 3-601; Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-106(a)
Assault: Less certain No time limit for first degree assault, a felony. Second degree assault is a misdemeanor; ordinary misdemeanors must be charged within one year, but Maryland exempts misdemeanors that can be punished with a penitentiary sentence, and whether second degree assault falls under that exemption is not settled here. Md. Code, Crim. Law §§ 3-202, 3-203; Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-106(a)
Child sexual abuse: There is no criminal SOL for any felonies or misdemeanors under common law, including all CSA, trafficking, and CSAM crimes. CHILD USA's summary

The injury, assault and physical abuse lines are our reading of the statutes linked, as they stood on 28 September 2026. The child sexual abuse lines are CHILD USA's summary as it stood on 28 September 2026; their page may be more current than ours. In them SOL means statute of limitations, CSA child sexual abuse, and CSAM child sexual abuse material. "Less certain" marks a line where the law is unclear or where our reading has not been confirmed, so please treat it with extra care. Exceptions, court rulings and the details of what happened can all change which time limit applies, and some of these may be longer or shorter for you than they look here. CHILD USA's statute of limitations tracker, updated as each state changes its law. A lawyer can tell you which time limit applies to you, and many offer a free first consultation.

The therapist's licensing board

Holds the individual clinician's licence and can suspend or revoke it.

Maryland Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists

Multiple professions

Licenses and disciplines professional counselors and therapists, including marriage and family therapists and alcohol and drug counselors. Where the Board votes to investigate, it assigns its own investigator, and a thorough investigation has to come before any charge against a licensee.

It says many financial and interpersonal issues fall outside its jurisdiction because no breach of the Professional Counselors Act is involved. It cannot help you sue for money or settle a fee dispute.

Use this whenA licensed counselor or therapist in Maryland. Psychologists and social workers have separate boards.

HowFile through the Board's complaint gateway. Complaints are taken from patients, family members and any other member of the public.

Maryland Board of Examiners of Psychologists

Psychologist

Licenses and disciplines psychologists and registered psychology associates in Maryland.

Use this whenA licensed psychologist or registered psychology associate.

HowComplete the Board's complaint form - there are separate written instructions for filling it in - and send it to the Board.

The agency that licenses the program

Inspects the facility itself and can cite, fine, suspend or close it.

Maryland DHS, Licensing and Monitoring (Residential Child Care)

Licenses and monitors Residential Child Care programs in Maryland as a distinct category, and takes complaints about them.

Use this whenA licensed residential child care program.

HowContact the Department of Human Services.

Law enforcement and legal channels

Child protection, the Attorney General, and the criminal side.

Maryland child abuse and neglect reporting

Starts a child protective services investigation. Reports go to the local department of social services for the county the child is in, or to local law enforcement.

Use this whenA child at a Maryland program.

HowCall the local department of social services, or 1-800-91-PREVENT, or 911 in an emergency. Report orally straight away; a mandated reporter must also file a written report within 48 hours.

Oversight and advocacy

Bodies with a right to investigate, and advocates who can act for you.

Disability Rights Maryland

Maryland's Protection and Advocacy agency, with federal authority to investigate abuse and neglect of people with disabilities in facilities, a right of access to them, and free legal advocacy.

Use this whenA Maryland program where the young person has a disability or a mental health diagnosis.

HowContact the intake line.

1-800-233-7201 Main line 410-727-6352; TTY 410-235-5387.
More about this body

National reporting channels, and the same list for other states