Print Coverage: Forgotten Children Initiative

Since the public announcement of the rediscovery of the House of Reformation burial site on July 17, 2025, waves of news attention have followed. We’ll include links to text-based news articles below as they are published. You can find podcasts and television segments in their respective news sections.

Recent Op-Ed Features on Slate and the Imprint

The Racist Roots of Youth Justice Are Buried Deep

“The Racist Roots of Youth Justice Are Buried Deep,” is a an p-ed article published on the Imprint co-authored by Marc and former secretary of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, Vincent Schiraldi. In it, Marc and Vincent explore their discovery of the burial sites at the present-day Cheltenham youth detention facility, the staggering racist roots of Maryland’s youth legal system, and the formation of the Forgotten Children Initiative, which seeks to restore dignity to these youth, and make us remember that every single one of them was someone’s child.

“The Buried History of Cheltenham” is a companion podcast on the Imprint Weekly. In it, our own Marc Schindler, research professor and senior fellow at the Center for Youth Justice at Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy, had the opportunity to speak with John Kelly about the newly-launched Initiative,

New Forgotten Children Article on Slate: The Horrifying Secret of the Child Detention Center We Shared as Detainee and Jailer

We encourage you to check out the new article “The Horrifying Secret of the Child Detention Center We Shared as Detainee and Jailer” just published in Slate. In it, CYJ’s Marc Schindler and Georgetown Prisons and Justice Initiative‘s Tyrone Walker reflect on the discovery of more than 200 graves at the Cheltenham Youth Detention Center. Though they came from opposite sides of the detention walls, they are driven by a common belief—knowing that our history, even if painful, is necessary to make the system fairer and more effective.

if you have trouble accessing the article, please get in touch with us at centerforyouthjustice@georgetown.edu and we will be able to assist.

Recent Print News Coverage

‘A crime scene’: US researchers examine unmarked graves of dozens of Black children

Read the story by France24 reporter Victoria Lavelle.

Cheltenham’s Lost Graves Spark Push for Juvenile Justice Reform

Read the story by Megan Sayles on the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

Search begins to find families of Black boys buried at abandoned Md. site

Read the story in the Washington Post (12/10/25)

Maryland Senator fights for deceased Cheltenham juveniles, pushes juvenile justice reform

Read the story in Maryland’s Capitol News Service (12/11/25)

Cheltenham’s lost ‘Not fit for a dog’: Maryland reformatory boys died through years of disease, neglect spark push for juvenile justice reform

Read the story in Maryland’s Capitol News Service (12/11/25)

How CNS Analyzed Cheltenham Data

Read the story in Maryland’s Capitol News Service (12/11/25)

Print Coverage Following the Initial Visit to the House of Reformation Site by State Senator Will Smith, Jr. on 7/17/25:

The existence of the burial ground was publicly announced on July 17, 2025 following a visit to the cemetery by Maryland State Senator Will Smith (Chair of Maryland Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee), Vinny Schiraldi (former DJS Secretary) and Marc Schindler (former DJS Assistant Secretary & Chief of Staff).

Graves near site of Maryland reform school for Black children rediscovered

Read the Front page story in the Washington Post (7/17/25)

230 dead Black boys. A ‘secret cemetery.’ Officials knew, and didn’t act.

Read the Front page story in The Washington Post (9/22/25)(7/17/25)

Graves Near Youth Prison Spotlight Maryland’s Legacy of Injustice

Read the Story in Black Press USA (7/21/25) and in the San Diego Voice (7/23/25)

Sen. Will Smith: Sins of the past remind us we need to reform the present

Read the Op-ed in the Baltimore Sun by Senator Smith (7/23/25)

Maryland must reckon with its juvenile justice past to protect today’s youth

Read the Op-ed in the Maryland Afro by Marc Schindler (9/2/25)

Cheltenham’s lost graves spark push for juvenile justice reform

Read the Feature story in Maryland’s Afro newspaper (8/7/25)

Maryland To Memorialize Nearly 100 Newly Discovered Unmarked Graves Of Black Children

Read the Story in Black Enterprise (7/23/25)

Sen. Will Smith Visits Forgotten Graves Of Black Youth At Former Maryland Juvenile Facility

Read the Story in The Baynet (7/30/25)

Unmarked graves of children expose an uncomfortable truth for Maryland

Read the Op-ed in Maryland Matters by Liz Ryan (8/22/25)

Print Coverage Following the Visit to the House of Reformation Site by the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus on 9/23/25:

Two months after the public announcement in July 2025, the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus visited the House of Reformation Site in September 2025. Their visit renewed media attention and brought even more focus to the forgotten children buried there.