Maryland Department of Health Partners with Families and Manatt Health to Develop Roadmap for Enhancing Behavioral Health Services for Children and Youth

The Maryland Department of Health, along with the Maryland Coalition of Families and Manatt Health, are collaborating to develop recommendations and a roadmap for improving the state’s public behavioral health system. The primary goal of this partnership is to identify steps to enhance behavioral health services for children, youth, and families in Maryland.

Dr. Laura Herrera Scott, Maryland Health Secretary, has highlighted that while investments have been made in crisis services for youth and new school-based initiatives, there are still significant gaps in the system. To address these gaps, the partners will be conducting a current state assessment and generating an internal report with initial recommendations by December 2024. Additionally, they will prepare a detailed roadmap with proposed policy changes to enhance behavioral health care for children and youth.

Alyssa Lord, Deputy Secretary for Behavioral Health, emphasized that the roadmap will cover all aspects of care, from prevention to high-intensity services. It will provide implementation steps to translate policy recommendations into action. The Maryland Coalition of Families is experienced in helping families navigate the behavioral health system, while Manatt Health is a renowned national policy and strategy firm that recently completed a national roadmap for addressing the behavioral health crisis among children and youth with complex conditions.

For more information on the Department’s behavioral health resources and services for children, individuals can visit health.maryland.gov/youthbehavioralhealth.