Maryland State Wire

Hopes have been fulfilled in Queen Anne's County, where the Local Management Board (LMB) will receive a share of the almost $20 million in statewide grants from the Children's Cabinet Fund as announced by Gov. Larry Hogan's office this month, a local official said during a recent interview.

"We were hopeful that we would be receiving the funds," Michael Clark, chief of Queen Anne's County Department of Community Services' Housing & Family Services, said during a Maryland State Wire email interview. "The governor’s office did a good job of preparing us to apply for them. Additionally our board members and staff did an  excellent job developing, prioritizing and implementing the response."  

Queen Anne's County LMB will receive $360,286 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. The grants were announced by the office of Gov. Larry Hogan on July 5.

Queen Anne's County LMB had hoped for more from the budgetary process earlier this year, Clark said. 

"Gov. Hogan had originally promised more money in competitive funds for LMBs that ultimately did not make it into his budget request this year," Clark said.

In January, Queen Anne's County Commissioners wrote to the governor, asking him to put the funds back in but that didn't happen, Clark said. "While that was disappointing, overall we are very appreciative and the funds will greatly help children and families in our county," he said.

Queen Anne's County LMB already has a good idea where that money will need to go, following a review of data from the county's most recent needs assessment, Clark said. Based on that analysis, the board settled on the following priority result areas of keeping communities safe for children youth and families, enabling children to complete school, and providing youth opportunities for employment and career readiness.

The board also adopted the governor's priority areas of youth with incarcerated parents and opportunity and disconnected youth, both of which are state identified child well being result areas for Queen Anne's County.  

LMBs, which 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, all received a share of the grants announced by the governor's office. The grants are intended to assist LMBs in their work to coordinate resources at the local level and strengthen services to children, youth, and families, the governor's office said in the announcement.  

"Our administration is committed to ensuring Maryland's families in need are better equipped to achieve economic stability and have access to greater opportunities," Hogan said in the announcement. "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."

The LMB grants are part of Hogan's vision of ensuring an economically secure Maryland for all, the governor's announcement said.