Baltimore – The Maryland Department of Health released the Roadmap to Strengthen Maryland’s Public Behavioral Health System for Children, Youth, and Families on July 29, 2025, in partnership with the Maryland Coalition of Families and Manatt Health. This Maryland children’s behavioral health roadmap addresses the needs of youth and families facing mental health conditions, substance use disorders or both, aiming to help them persevere and thrive through a more accessible, equitable and sustainable system.
“The roadmap is a vital next step in our response to the urgent needs of Maryland youth,” said Deputy Secretary for Behavioral Health Alyssa Lord. “Developed with input from families through focus groups and public engagement, this roadmap serves as a practical, data-driven guide to creating a more accessible, equitable, and sustainable public behavioral health system for children, youth, and families in Maryland.”
The Maryland children’s behavioral health roadmap responds to pressing statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which indicate that 30 percent of Maryland middle and high school students report feeling sad or hopeless. The state records more than 100 youth deaths annually from drug and alcohol overdoses, and suicide ranks as the third leading cause of death for individuals aged 10 to 24. Additionally, youth experience a median emergency department boarding time of 33.7 hours for behavioral health issues, highlighting delays in care.
The document outlines five key goals for the Maryland children’s behavioral health roadmap. First, to make the system coordinated and accessible by improving navigation and cross-agency collaboration. Second, to focus upstream with robust prevention and early intervention programs. Third, to ensure efficiency and sustainability through workforce investments and financing plans. Fourth, to provide comprehensive and equitable care by strengthening in-home services and pilots for special populations. Fifth, to center youth and families by engaging them in policy and expanding peer support.
Specific strategies in the Maryland children’s behavioral health roadmap include leveraging Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment benefits to support early intervention, such as encouraging timely follow-ups after screenings and exploring removal of diagnosis requirements for services. To reduce emergency room visits, the plan calls for expanding mobile crisis and stabilization services, integrating the Mobile Response and Stabilization Services model, and ensuring 988 operators can dispatch teams. Timing for these varies, with mid-term actions (two to four years) for EPSDT enhancements and long-term (four-plus years) for full crisis expansion. Resources involve moderate to high state and federal funding, with moderate complexity for policy changes and high for system integration. Examples include Colorado’s reimbursement for short-term services without diagnoses and New Jersey’s use of Medicaid for mobile response.
The Maryland children’s behavioral health roadmap also addresses workforce shortages by maximizing integrated care models and disseminating best practices across disciplines. Recommendations include investing in diverse providers, developing financing to leverage funds, and piloting initiatives for groups like LGBTQIA+ youth or those with intellectual disabilities. Complexity levels range from moderate for training expansions to high for statewide financing plans, with resources needing local, state and federal dollars.
For equitable care, the Maryland children’s behavioral health roadmap emphasizes in-home and community-based supports, such as expanding peer support through state-level training and Medicaid coverage via State Plan Amendments. Nineteen states already cover such services, providing a model. Youth and family-centered approaches involve policy engagement and automatic referrals to peers at entry points like emergency departments or schools.
Focus groups informed the Maryland children’s behavioral health roadmap, including input from the Southern Central Region encompassing Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties. Participants there reported isolation in navigating resources, confusion over available supports, and challenges traveling long distances for care due to caregiving duties. They stressed needs for centralized repositories, family peer support to reduce trial-and-error, and early identification by providers like pediatricians. These align with the roadmap’s navigation and prevention goals, directly relevant to Southern Maryland families.
This release builds on prior efforts, such as funding restorations for youth mental health initiatives detailed in a local report. In February 2025, over $111 million in grants expanded programs, including in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s, as covered in coverage of new funding. Calvert County identified youth substance use and mental health as key concerns in its 2023-2025 community health plan.
The Maryland children’s behavioral health roadmap includes examples from states like Massachusetts, which launched a 24/7 behavioral health help line in multiple languages. Maryland’s plan prioritizes urgent, feasible changes with ongoing partner coordination.
Southern Maryland residents, familiar with regional challenges like limited local providers, can access the full Maryland children’s behavioral health roadmap and executive summary. Additional resources are at health.maryland.gov/youthbehavioralhealth.
The Maryland children’s behavioral health roadmap acknowledges improvements require sustained efforts, emphasizing equity and community-based care to address disparities. For Southern Maryland, where military families and rural areas may face unique barriers, the focus on pilots for special populations and crisis services offers potential benefits.
