Maryland State Wire

Kent County Local Management Board's portion of almost $20 million in statewide grant awards from the Children's Cabinet Fund, announced by Gov. Larry Hogan's office this month, will be put to good use among some of the area's disadvantaged, a board official said during a recent interview.

While the grants were announced July 5, they were not entirely unexpected, Kent County Local Management Board Director Rosemary Ramsey Granillo said during a Maryland State Wire email interview. 

"The Kent County Local Management Board conducted extensive planning and coordination in preparation to respond to the notice of funding availability from the Governor's Office for Children," Granillo said.

Consequently, the board already has its priorities in line. 

"Our priority result areas are 'Families are Safe and Economically Stable' and 'Youth Have Opportunities for Employment and Career Readiness,' two of Maryland's child well being result areas," Granillo said. "Kent County seeks to reduce child poverty from a rate of 20 percent, compared to the state rate of 13 percent. Children under 5 experience a 26.4 percent poverty rate, and young adults between the ages of 18 to 34 experience a 22 percent rate, based on 2012-2016 American Community Survey five-year estimates."

Poverty reduction in Kent County isn't the only goal, Granillo said. 

"Our interventions seek to use a two-generation approach to reverse these and other trends like homelessness, grandparents raising grandchildren, and youth unemployment," she said.

Kent County Local Management Board will receive $435,358 for a local care team coordinator, programs and strategies, and board support from the $19.6 million in awards announced in non-competitive grants to fund more than 120 child- and family-focused community-based programs in Maryland in fiscal year 2019. 

"Our administration is committed to ensuring Maryland's families in need are better equipped to achieve economic stability and have access to greater opportunities," Maryland's Republican governor was quoted in the press release that announced the grants. "These grants enable our network of local management boards to assist thousands of families by providing life-changing resources including anti-hunger initiatives, job readiness programs, and parenting workshops."

County boards are located in all Maryland counties and in the city of Baltimore to coordinate resources at the local level with an eye toward strengthening services provided to children, youth and families.  

Kent County's board will soon begin planning for fiscal year 2019 to develop its next three-year community plan, according to a press release issued the board at about the same time as the governor's announcement. 

"The board will review local data and engage with the community to reevaluate priorities and examine strategies," the Kent County board press release said. "This will guide decision making processes for the board through 2022."

The Kent County press release identified three funded strategies of the board. Those are Circlebuild, which works to mitigate the impact of incarceration on children and their caretakers; Healthy Family Mid-Shore, which uses two-generational home visits to foster healthy children in stable, economically self-sufficient household; and Reconnect for Life, a youth intervention program for young people not in school and not working.