Harford County Sheriff’s Office records show 251 calls for service associated with Arrow’s Crossroads Community through Oct. 17, 2026. The office recorded 66 calls in 2025 and 45 in 2024. Thirteen residents accounted for 136 missing-person-related calls this year, more than half of the facility’s total calls for service, according to the records.

Del. Mike Griffith, a Republican who represents parts of Harford and Cecil counties, said the state should develop additional safeguards for residents considered at high risk of leaving repeatedly. He said responses should extend beyond notifying police and include individualized safety measures and closer supervision.

Griffith also called for officials to distinguish repeated departures from isolated incidents. He raised the possibility of separating residents if they are organizing departures together, arguing that repeated absences can expose young people to exploitation or other harm.

Sheriff’s Office officials said some residents have left the facility repeatedly and traveled beyond Harford County. Capt. David McDougall confirmed that allegations of child sex trafficking involving residents who left the program have led to documented investigations. The investigations do not, on their own, establish that trafficking occurred.

Arrow’s Crossroads is a nonsecure residential treatment program for young women in Maryland’s foster-care system, not a detention facility. Arrow Child and Family Ministries says residents meet its admission criteria and that it uses individualized safety plans, therapy and increased supervision when residents return.

The organization also changed its procedures to notify police immediately when a resident leaves without permission, said Jennifer McLaughlin-Renault, Arrow’s senior vice president of Maryland programs. That change may help explain the increase in calls, she said.

Maryland’s Department of Human Services has also updated procedures for missing children, including prompt law enforcement notification and greater coordination among agencies. Alger Studstill, executive director of the department’s Social Services Administration, said repeated episodes of leaving do not automatically mean a provider is the wrong placement.

Studstill rejected the idea of placing young people in facilities where they could not leave, saying foster children should not be detained as if they had committed crimes. Many enter state care after abuse, neglect or other trauma, he said, and officials must weigh safety against their rights and treatment needs.

The Harford County Sheriff’s Office has filed three complaints with DHS concerning Arrow since April 2025. Studstill said department officials have met with law enforcement and Arrow representatives but did not provide details about the complaints’ findings.

The competing positions highlight a difficult question for child-welfare officials: how to respond when a small number of young people account for many missing-person reports, while ensuring that added protections do not become punitive restrictions on children in state care.