Talbot Council OKs core service-agency agreement with Mitchell Behavioral Health after presentation on regional programs

Talbot County Council voted unanimously to approve a core service-agency letter of agreement with Mitchell Behavioral Health (Midshore) after the agency presented an update on regional behavioral-health programs and local activities.

Midshore’s Chief Executive Officer Katie Dilley told the council that May is Mental Health Awareness Month and highlighted the agency’s regional work, including school-based behavioral-health services, a state opioid-response grant award and coordination with five county health departments. “May…is Mental Health Awareness Month,” Dilley said, and this year’s theme is “turning awareness into action.”

The nut graf: The agreement formalizes Mitchell Behavioral Health’s role as the county’s core service agency for behavioral health services and maintains the county’s funding and oversight relationship. Council members said the presentation clarified the agency’s homelessness prevention and service-navigation work and supported approval of the letter of agreement.

Dilley and Shannon Joyce, the agency’s Talbot County point of contact, described ongoing programs: school-based services funded through a consortium grant that has reached students in Talbot public schools; a regional hub for homeless services supported by HUD and the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development; suicide-prevention coalition activity; and assists for veterans through a mapping initiative funded with federal technical-assistance support. Joyce outlined assisted-living pilot placements and a state hospital discharge initiative serving statewide clients; she said Midshore currently supports 35 individuals under that program and aims to increase to 36 to 40 as referrals proceed.

Council members asked how Midshore addresses homelessness. Joyce said the agency provides both prevention and intervention: “We do prevention. We have a case management specialist that works with individuals facing homelessness,” she said, and described supported housing arrangements that pair housing with case management and landlord engagement. The agency said funding for infrastructure work to extend sewer and other county capital projects was separate from its program funding.

After the presentation, Councilmember Clay Cowen moved approval of the core service-agency letter of agreement; the motion was seconded and passed on a roll call vote: Aye — Callahan, Stepp, Lesher, Milkey and Haight.

Ending: Council members thanked Mitchell Behavioral Health for the update and invited the agency to return with further data; the agreement was approved without conditions. If residents want details or program contacts, the agency provided handouts at the meeting and indicated staff are available for follow-up.