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Maryland’s Children’s Cabinet

Chaired by the Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services, Maryland’s Children Cabinet coordinates the child and family-focused service delivery system by emphasizing prevention, early intervention, and community-based services for all children and families. The Children’s Cabinet includes the Secretaries from the Departments of Budget and Management; Disabilities; Health; Human Services; and Juvenile Services; as well as the State Superintendent of Schools for the Maryland State Department of Education. 

The Children’s Cabinet priorities for funding are aligned with Governor Hogan’s strategic vision, and include: increasing trauma-informed services and mitigating the impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs); reducing the impact of parental incarceration on children, youth, families, and communities; reducing youth homelessness; improving outcomes for disconnected and  opportunity youth; reducing childhood hunger; increasing opportunities for diversion from the juvenile justice system; and preventing out-of-state placements.

The Children’s Cabinet works closely with Local Management Boards, which use the Results-Based Accountability framework to identify, evaluate, and develop the programs and strategies needed to address local community needs and provide resources for children and families in their jurisdiction. Local Management Boards bring together local child-serving agencies, child providers, youth, families, and communities to make decisions about priorities and how resources are deployed to address local needs. For more information, please select child well being results and indicators..

In 2019, Maryland’s Children’s Cabinet provided $19.5 million from the Children’s Cabinet Interagency Fund to Local Management Boards that supported 126 community-based programs focused on improving outcomes for Maryland’s children and their families.

Children’s Cabinet Membership

Vincent Schiraldi, Secretary
Department of Juvenile Services
www.djs.maryland.gov
@MarylandDJS
Carol A. Beatty, Secretary
Department of Disabilities
www.mdod.maryland.gov
@MDDisabilities
Helene Grady, Acting Secretary
Department of Budget and Management
www.dbm.maryland.gov
Jennifer Krabill, Director, Children and Youth Division
Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services
www.goccp.maryland.gov
@GOCCP
Rafael López, Secretary
Department of Human Services
www.dhs.maryland.gov
@MDDHR
Mohammed Choudhury, State Superintendent of Schools
Department of Education
www.marylandpublicschools.org
@MDPublicSchools
Laura Herrera Scott, Secretary
Department of Health
www.health.maryland.gov
@MarylandDHMH

Local Care Teams

In 2017, the Children’s Cabinet determined the need to strengthen the system of care for children and youth at the local level through a coordinated approach to interagency case management. The goal of the coordinated approach is to return or divert children and youth from preventable out-of-home and out-of-State placements through the provision of community-based services with Local Care Teams are the point of access to services for children and youth. Parents, family members or agencies make referrals directly to Local Care Teams to seek assistance with accessing services, to develop plans of care for community-based services and to coordinate services from multiple agencies. Families and children at risk of out-of-home or out-of-State placement, with complex needs and/or who are in crisis are identified as priorities for the Local Care Teams. For more information, please visit https://goccp.maryland.gov/localcareteams/ or contact Christopher Miele at christopher.miele1@maryland.gov.

Addressing Complex Needs of Maryland Youth in Care

The issue of children and youth who remain in hospitals beyond the point of medical necessity is a matter of concern for all of Maryland’s child-serving agencies. Working together, the Children’s Cabinet has developed a work plan to improve coordination and collaboration between the state agencies, hospitals, and other public and private partners. This plan includes developing placement resources to serve Maryland youth with complex and diverse health challenges. The Children’s Cabinet has undertaken a review of community and residential services in Maryland that address the mental and behavioral health issues of Maryland’s youth population. The Governor’s Fiscal 2022 Budget Allowance for the Maryland Department of Health includes $5 million dollars to address the most immediate and critical need for specialized residential care for youth with highly complex needs, as the Children’s Cabinet continues to develop other approaches to address this issue.

The Children’s Cabinet believes that through implementation of this plan and its ongoing collaborative work, we can better meet the needs of children and youth in our community by developing a comprehensive service approach that engages the resources of all child serving agencies and all of the essential public and private partners within the State of Maryland. For more information, please see the Interagency Plan: Developing Resources To Address the Complex Needs of Maryland Youth in Care.

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