Investigative reporter

Jean Marbella

Jean Marbella is an investigative and enterprise reporter for The Baltimore Sun. She joined The Sun in 1987 and has been a features writer, national correspondent, editor and columnist. She was born in Havre de Grace, grew up in Chicago and graduated from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. Email her at jean.marbella@baltsun.com.

Kanaiyah Ward, a 16-year-old foster child who was found dead in a Baltimore hotel room Sept. 22, 2025. (Courtesy of the Ward family)

Foster care work group urged to recommend legislative remedies

November 11, 2025 at 5:21 p.m.

Already off to a delayed start, the workgroup created to study Maryland foster youth being housed in hotels or lingering in hospitals past discharge was urged Monday to develop actionable...

Maryland Department of Human Services Secretary Rafael J. López and other state officials were grilled by state legislators on Wednesday over the suicide death of a 16-year-old foster girl in a Baltimore hotel last month and a scathing audit that documented multiple problems with how it cared for children in their custody.

‘Feet to the fire:’ López, DHS remain under scrutiny for foster care failings

October 31, 2025 at 5:02 a.m.

As fallout continues over problems with Maryland's foster care system, Republican delegates have called for Gov. Wes Moore to fire the Department of Human Services Secretary Rafael J. López and...

A scathing audit, a girl’s suicide: Maryland foster care officials in the hot seat

October 29, 2025 at 8:59 p.m.

After multiple critical reports and the suicide death of a 16-year-old foster girl in Baltimore last month, Maryland legislators grilled social services officials on Monday for failures in how they...

Maryland ending practice of housing foster youth in hotels

October 27, 2025 at 5:47 p.m.

Maryland will no longer house foster youth in hotels, a much criticized practice even before a 16-year-old foster girl was found dead a month ago in a Residence Inn in...

Kanaiyah Ward,16 died of suicide after struggling with her mental health for years. (Courtesy of the Ward family) Jacob Doriety, a foster youth in Oregon spent much of his life in foster care, going through more than 50 placements, he was sent to live in a hotel. He died by suicide at age 17.

A hotel is not a home: Maryland, other states seek a better place for foster youth

October 25, 2025 at 7:34 a.m.

“It’s a systemic problem. It’s a systemic failure,” said Robert Basler, an associate vice-president of Arrow Child & Family Ministries, which provides foster care services in Maryland and Texas. “You...

A child under the supervision of the Maryland Department of Human Services was found dead on Monday at the Residence Inn by Marriott Baltimore at The Johns Hopkins Medical Campus. (Kim Hairston/staff).

Autopsy of teen staying in Baltimore hotel offers more details, but advocates still left with questions

October 8, 2025 at 7:26 p.m.

An autopsy report has revealed additional details surrounding the death of Kanaiyah Ward, who was found dead by suicide at a Baltimore hotel.

A child under the supervision of the Maryland Department of Human Services who died at the Residence Inn by Marriott Baltimore died by suicide, the state medical examiner said.

Suicide cause of death of foster girl, 16, in Baltimore hotel, medical examiner rules

October 8, 2025 at 6:08 a.m.

The death of a 16-year-old foster girl in a Baltimore hotel room has been ruled a suicide by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, a spokesperson said Tuesday.

Carol Wong, 39, a senior water resources
engineer for Fulton-based nonprofit Center
for Watershed Protection, is pictured at a
project in Columbia called Mellen Court Stream
Restoration, where she managed a research
project that monitored water quality during
construction. (LLOYD FOX/STAFF)

Stemming the tide: How to keep women in science, tech, engineering and math

October 7, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

The reasons range widely, experts say, from women facing the lingering, ages-old stereotype that boys are better at math and science, to them lacking role models both in their college...

Karsonya "Kaye" Wise Whitehead is the host of "Today with Dr. Kaye" on WEAA 88.9 FM.

Today with Dr. Kaye? An ice cream the WEAA talk show host can call her own

October 6, 2025 at 5:56 p.m.

The WEAA talk show, "Today with Dr. Kaye," is known for taking on some of today's most heated issues — Gaza, police accountability, President Trump's threat to send the National...

Columbia resident Alan Klein stands outside his home, where he installed solar panels on his garage. The Federal Residential Clean Energy Tax Credit, which covers 30% of the cost of a qualified solar system, is set to expire at the end of 2025. (Kevin Richardson/Staff)

Solar energy surge: Installations soar as sun sets on federal tax credits

October 5, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

“It’s sort of like a mad rush, losing-my-mind busy," said Gailan Wensil-Strow, a vice president of American Sentry Solar, which is installing Dufour's system.

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