Boyd K. Rutherford, Lieutenant Governor
Robert R. Neall, Health Secretary
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J. Wayne Howard, Vice Chair
- Scott T. Gibson
- Celeste James
- Maulik Joshi, DrPH
- Karen-Ann
Lichtenstein, Former
President & CEO, The
Coordinating Center
- Carol Masden, LCSW-C
- Destiny-Simone Ramjohn,
PhD
- Erica I. Shelton, MD
- Ivy Simmons, PhD
- Anthony C. Wisniewski,
Esq.
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Mark Luckner, Executive Director
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health (OMH) presents:
Advancing the Response to COVID-19: Sharing Promising Programs and Practices for Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities
September 17, 2020
The OMH is hosting this virtual symposium on September 17, 2020, from 12:00 to 6:00 pm.
The OMH virtual symposium aims to support the dissemination of promising practices, programs and strategies for combating COVID-19, especially in racial and ethnic minority communities.The symposium will feature national, state, tribal and local experts leading these efforts and is developed for public health leaders at all levels and community organizations confronting the pandemic.
For more information and registration, visit the HHS OMH symposim website here.
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Update: CHRC COVID-19 emergency grant awards to support Maryland's safety net providers.
Following initial grant awards made by the CHRC Commissioners earlier this summer, the CHRC issued supplemental COVID emergency funding awards totaling $144,184 at its meeting last month. The CHRCs COVID RFP is now completed with the Commission issuing (46) awards totaling $1.5 million. These awards are supported with federal funding received by the state and provided by the Maryland Department of Health. The awards are designed to support Maryland's safety net providers as they respond to the impact of COVID-19 and ensure the continued delivery of essential health services for vulnerable populations.
For a list of final award recipients click here. A summary narrative for each grant can be found here. COVID-19 and School-Based Health Centers (SBHC).
The Council on Advancement of School-Based Health Centers, which is staffed by the CHRC, recently approved recommendations to maximize the effectiveness of school-based health centers during the COVID-19 pandemic and future public health emergencies. Recommendations are related to continuity of care, telehealth, building access, flexibility, and central agency resources. The report and recommendations can be accessed here.
Prince George's School Mental Health Initiative Receives a CHRC COVID-19 Emergency Relief Grant to Expand Telemental Health Services to Students in Prince George's County.
The Prince George's School Mental Health Initiative (PGSMHI) was awarded a COVID-19 Emergency Relief Funding from the CHRC to expand access to telemental health services to students in need.
The PGSMHI started in Prince George's County in 2006 through a collaboration between the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS), and the National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. PGSMHI staff provide mental health interventions, intensive case management, and family support for students in special education with significant emotional and behavioral health challenges. By providing these critical supports to students at school, the PGSMHI helps to remove the many barriers that often interfere with access and engagement in mental health care. With the closure of schools, the CHRC emergency funds will allow the PGSMHI to purchase Chromebooks, WiFi hot spots, and headphones for students to access telemental health services and have more privacy during their therapy sessions. These students will also receive a Mental Health Toolkit which contains an age-appropriate box of engaging resources that students can use during therapy sessions such as colored pencils, pens, crayons, cardstock, journals, and feelings charts. The funding will also supply computers and headsets to PGSMHI staff to enhance their ability to telework and provide telemental health services more efficiently. The Director of the PGSMHI, Dr. Dana Cunningham stated, "We are so excited to receive this funding from the MCHRC. This award will allow us to decrease the digital divide and eliminate many of the barriers that have precluded some families from being able to access mental health care. As we navigate this national pandemic, we want to ensure that we are able to remain connected to the families that we serve and continue to provide them with the services that they need." 
Pressley Ridge Awarded a CHRC Grant to Expand Access
to Crisis Intervention Services to Central Maryland Children and Families Pressley Ridge, a behavioral health care provider was recently awarded a CHRC grant to expand access to the HOMEBUILDERS® program in Baltimore County in response to the increasing need to support families impacted by the opioid crisis. These services are more vital now as Maryland navigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pressley Ridge, founded in 1832 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania offers more than 70 community-based mental health, foster care and adoption, specialized education and supportive transition-age youth services to communities across Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland. In 2017, Pressley Ridge launched the HOMEBUILDERS® program in Western Maryland from their Cumberland office through a grant from the CHRC. This evidenced-based program provides intensive, in-home crisis intervention, counseling and life-skills education for families with children who are at risk of placement in state-funded care, including children who are victims of abuse, neglect and those who have been exposed to risk factors such as domestic violence, substance abuse, and other disabling parental conditions. The goal of the HOMEBUILDERS® program is family preservation when appropriate by increasing access to behavioral health and wraparound services to increase family engagement and provide cost savings for the social service system.
The current program expansion builds upon the successful outcomes demonstrated over the past three years in Western Maryland. This program expansion is also supported by a grant from UnitedHealthcare® as part of their Empowering Health Grant initiative, which is aimed at expanding access to care in Maryland and addressing the social determinants of health for uninsured individuals and underserved communities.
The CHRC has focused on supporting the functional integration of behavioral health and somatic care services in the community, awarding 59 grants totaling over $15 million. These programs have collectively served more than 76,000 individuals. For more information about these programs, click here.
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September is National Childhood Obesity Month.
The CDC offers ways to promote healthy growth in children and prevent obesity. For more information, click here.
The Maryland Department of Health - Updates on the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak.
The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) continues to provide daily updates as they become available. To access the MDH coronavirus disease web page, click COVID-19 Maryland.
The site also provides the latest on testing, nursing home cases and contact tracing, click covidLINK for further information.
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