Research and Evaluation Projects
Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children's Health
In September 2012, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Mental Hygiene Administration was awarded a five-year Project LAUNCH Grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration entitled, Maryland LAUNCH, designed to coordinate key child-serving systems and integrate behavioral and physical health services to ensure that children are able to thrive in safe, supportive environments and enter school ready to learn in the pilot community of Prince George’s County.
Maryland LAUNCH will
- enhance the collaboration among State and local child-serving agencies;
- increase the use of early screenings, assessments, and mental health consultations;
- increase integration of behavioral health and primary care;
- enhance home visiting;
- provide family strengthening and parent skills training; and
- provide training on developmental screening and assessment tools for primary care providers, early childhood educators, and home visiting programs.
- Mental health consultation capacity will be enhanced by hiring master’s level early childhood mental health consultants to work in a variety of settings. Primary care providers will be trained in identifying and referring children with developmental concerns to appropriate services to better coordinate behavioral and primary care.
Family strengthening programs will be expanded to reach families receiving mental health consultation services to those involved with or at risk for involvement with the child welfare system. A primary goal of Maryland LAUNCH is to parents provide healthy and secure environments for their children to learn and grow. The Institute will support the evaluation for LAUNCH.
|Child Welfare Academy
DHR Adult Services Professional Development
|Research and Evaluation