Maryland State Wire

Worcester County's Local Management Board (LMB) now knows how much it will receive as its 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.

It has been a matter of waiting since county officials applied, Jessica Sexauer, director of Carroll County's Local Behavioral Health Authority and Local Management Board, said during a Maryland State Wire email interview. 

"The Governor's Office for Children issued a notice of funding availability which provided the Worcester County's Initiative to Preserve Families, the Worcester County LMB, the opportunity to request funding to be available locally," Sexauer said. "The funds approved for local jurisdictions would be available to support programs that are intended to support needs of the community. Our LMB knew there were funds available to our communities and the maximum amount we would be eligible to receive, but were not aware of the final award amount until receiving the award letter recently."

The waiting ended July 5 when Hogan's office announced the grants. Worcester County LMB will receive $832,918 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.

Worcester County LMB already has a good idea where that money will go, Sexauer said. 

"The Maryland Child Well Being Indicators, along with the governor's four strategic goal areas, helped the Local Management Board with determining the greatest needs," she said.

The governor's four strategic goal areas, as identified by the state for Worcester County, includes improving outcomes for disconnected youth, Sexauer said. "These are youth between the ages of 16-24 who are not in school or not working," she said. Another goal area is reducing homelessness among youth ages 14-25 who are homeless and not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian.

The other two goal areas are reducing the impact of incarceration on children youth and families and reducing childhood hunger.

Three Child Well Being Indicators have been identified as high priority in the county, youth have opportunities for employment or career readiness, communities are safe for children, youth and families and families are safe and economically stable, Sexauer said. 

"These priorities were identified through a needs assessment process where input was provided by members of the community," she said. "Our Local Management Board will be working with partners to implement programs that will support these youth and their families with a variety of evidence-based strategies."  

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."