Happy New Year! This is the first full week of the 2025 legislative session and the Maryland General Assembly is already in full swing. Elected officials will work over the next few months to balance a nearly $3 billion budget deficit and debate over 2,000 legislative proposals covering a range of topics.
MHAMD will play a major role in these deliberations as we work to ensure Marylanders have access to high quality mental health and substance use care when and where needed.
2025 Access to Care Agenda
MHAMD is working this year with its partners in the Maryland Behavioral Health Coalition to advance a series of budgetary, legislative and systems policies designed to ensure equitable access to quality mental health and substance use care.
The priorities outlined in the Coalition’s 2025 Access to Care Agenda include strategies to address Maryland’s behavioral health workforce crisis, improve public behavioral health system functioning and outcomes, ensure parity and equity in the delivery of mental health and substance use care, and maintain access to a range of behavioral health crisis response services.
Watch over the coming weeks for more details about each of these initiatives and information about how you can get involved!
MHAMD 2025 Legislative Briefing and Reception
Join us in Annapolis on February 12 for MHAMD’s annual legislative briefing and reception!
This year’s briefing will spotlight the Open Dialogue model of care delivery – an innovative, recovery-oriented approach to crisis intervention and system design. Attendees will:
- Learn about the Open Dialogue model in a keynote presentation from Dr. Mary Olson, founding director of the Yale-sponsored Institute for Dialogic Practice
- Participate in an interactive keynote response panel and audience Q&A
- Hear directly from members of the Moore Administration and the Maryland General Assembly about policies and legislation impacting Marylanders’ behavioral health
- Celebrate the achievements of our 2025 behavioral health awardees
- Network with friends and colleagues
Seating at this event is limited! Register today to reserve your spot.
This Week in Annapolis
MHAMD will provide testimony this week on the following bills. Click here to see our full updated bill list.
SB 36 MHAMD supports this bill allowing the use of 911 funding for costs associated with operations that are shared with Maryland’s 988 helpline, including software interfaces and joint training.
Further information about the material above is available on the Maryland General Assembly website.