Baltimore City Wire

The homeless, children in poverty, and other vulnerable groups in Baltimore County will benefit from an almost $1.5 million grant award from the Children's Cabinet Fund, as announced by Gov. Larry Hogan's office this month.

"Resources are limited, but the need is great," Baltimore County Local Management Board (LMB) acting Executive Director Donald Schlimm said during a Maryland State Wire email interview. "The funding provided through the Governor's Office for Children helps us to create and sustain services for very specific target populations that fall within the priorities identified by the board."

Baltimore County LMB will receive $1.49 million for a local care team coordinator, programs, 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.

The Baltimore County LMB already has a good idea where that money will need to go, Schlimm said. 

"For example, unaccompanied homeless youth are a population that can be difficult to find," he said. "They often avoid services, such as the shelter system, that are typically used by adults. Working with Prologue, one of the county's providers of homeless services, the LMB was able to use this grant funding to create a full-time position for a youth outreach worker."

The youth outreach worker strives to locate and engage unaccompanied homeless youth; meet their immediate basic needs, such as food, clothing, shelter and health care; and link them to longer-term services, such as stable housing, Schlimm said. 

"Her experience, the experience of current and formerly homeless youth and the experience of many county stakeholders providing services to homeless youth is helping to inform the planning process for a system of services specifically designed to meet the needs of unaccompanied homeless youth," he said.

LMBs, which are in all Maryland counties and in the city of Baltimore, coordinate resources at the local level with an eye toward strengthening services provided to children, youth and families. All will receive 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."

Areas of need already prioritized by Baltimore County LMB are birth outcomes for infant mortality and low birth weight; disconnected youth; families impacted by incarceration; child poverty; youth hunger; and youth homelessness. These are largely state recognized well-being result areas identified in Baltimore County.

"We go through an annual funding application process with the governor's office for children," Schlimm said. "So, in that sense, we were hoping that our application would be looked upon favorably and we would receive the funding."