In September 2008, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) Mental Hygiene Administration (MHA) was awarded a six-year Children's Mental Health Initiative (CMHI) cooperative agreement totaling $8.6 Million from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) to improve mental health outcomes for children, youth, and families served by, or at risk of entering, the State's foster care system.

The CMHI titled, Maryland Crisis and At Risk for Escalation diversion Services for children (MD CARES), cements cross-agency partnerships that blend family-driven, evidence-based practices within mental health and child welfare to better serve this high risk population. The project proposal was submitted by DHMH/MHA in partnership with Maryland's child welfare authority, the Department of Human Resources (DHR), and was developed in collaboration with Maryland Coalition of Families for Children's Mental Health, Maryland Foster Parent Association, Youth M.O.V.E. Maryland, the Governor's Office for Children (GOC), the University of Maryland, and numerous other local and state public and private partners. Service dollars from this grant target Baltimore City, where the majority of the youth and families in foster care reside.

MD CARES also includes infrastructure and capacity building strategies that leverage other state and federal funding, supporting the ability to adapt the model developed in Baltimore City for statewide implementation. A companion grant, titled Rural CARES was awarded in September 2009 to Talbot County to develop a rural model in Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Caroline, Talbot, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset and Worcester Counties. Both CMHI grant awards are fully supported by the Governor's Children's Cabinet and DHMH/MHA, which provide the required match for the grants. The Institute provides state-level project management, wraparound training and coaching, strategic development, and sustainability planning support, as well as data collection, evaluation and outcome reporting.

Structure

View/Save Structure in PPT

Data Profile Reports

• Maryland CARES Evaluation Report
• Documentation Table
• Baltimore City December 2010
• Baltimore City April 2011
• Baltimore City December 2011
• Baltimore City April 2012
• Baltimore City August 2012

Additional Resources

• NOMS Trainig Guide
• Discharge Interview