2022 Children, Youth and Families Agenda
The Children’s Behavioral Health Coalition (CBHC) brings together state and local advocacy groups with a focus on policy issues and concerns specific to children, youth and families with mental health and substance use needs. CBHC works to ensure children across Maryland have equitable access to high quality and culturally competent behavioral health services and supports. CBHC calls on the Maryland General Assembly to take the following actions in 2022:
- Pass the Behavioral Health System Modernization Act to increase access to wraparound services for children and youth
- Take steps to expand community prevention and early intervention programs that are co-led and co-designed by youth and families
- Pass legislation to improve Maryland’s process for providing high intensity out-of-home services to children in need
- Enact policies that reduce discrimination and increase access to care for LGBTQ youth
- Take steps to expand school- and community-based child behavioral health workforces
Read more about the CBHC agenda here. And keep an eye out over the coming weeks and months for action alerts and other ways you can get involved.
MHAMD 2022 Virtual Legislative Briefing
Please join us on February 17 for the MHAMD 2022 Virtual Legislative Briefing. This event is free to all!
Attendees will hear directly from elected officials and other decision makers about the public policy issues impacting Marylanders’ behavioral health.
The event will will also feature our annual Champions of Today award ceremony, honoring individuals whose leadership has had a lasting and profound impact on Maryland’s behavioral health system and the people it serves.
This Week in Annapolis
The policy priorities detailed above aren’t the only important issues being debated in Annapolis. MHAMD will provide testimony this week on the bills listed below. Download our full updated bill list.
SB 12 | HB 129 MHAMD supports these bills requiring written policies and procedures for how 9-1-1 dispatchers should respond to a call involving an individual experiencing a mental health emergency.
HB 48 MHAMD supports this bill establishing a committee to review Maryland suicide deaths and develop strategies to prevent future suicide deaths. (This is the House version of a bill MHAMD testified on last week in the Senate)
SB 150 MHAMD supports this bill requiring Maryland Medicaid to provide coverage for adult dental services.
SB 165 MHAMD supports this bill requiring that all criminal cases involving a minor begin in juvenile court, preventing the automatic charging of juveniles as adults.
Further information about the material above is available on the Maryland General Assembly website.