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Local Care Team reports FY25 referrals, highlights school partnerships and suicide-prevention coordination
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Summary
Carroll County’s Local Care Team delivered its FY25 annual report, describing 28 unique referrals and 30 review meetings, predominant referral concerns (anger/aggression, multiple mental health diagnoses, suicidal ideation), outreach efforts and collaboration with schools and health partners.
Carroll County’s Local Care Team (LCT) presented its FY25 annual report to the Board of County Commissioners on Thursday, summarizing referrals, presenting concerns and outreach activities and describing partnerships with schools and health providers.
Maria Lowry, the county’s local care team coordinator, told commissioners the LCT held 30 review meetings in FY25 — a 32% decrease from FY24 but an 11% increase over FY23 — and that the team recorded 28 unique referrals for the year. Lowry said male youth accounted for more than 60% of referrals over the past three years and that most referrals in FY25 involved adolescents ages 12 to 16.
Staff said the top presenting concerns on referrals for FY25 were anger and aggression, multiple mental‑health diagnoses and self‑harm/suicidal ideation. Lowry described partnerships with Carroll County Public Schools, Carroll Hospital and other local agencies to coordinate care and improve parental guidance after emergency department visits for suicidal ideation. "Some parents had shared with CCPS staff that they needed to know how to talk to their child about suicide and self‑injury, and they needed to know how they could keep them safe," Lowry said; the LCT worked with partners to revise written communications and resources for families.
Lowry reported demographic and geographic details from referrals: the LCT added a "Mixed Race" option to its intake form in FY25, and staff said the response rate on the ethnicity question rose to about 93% from 71% the prior year. She said roughly one‑fifth of referrals selected Hispanic/Latinx origin and that 36% of referrals (10 of 28) were from ZIP codes 21157 and 21158 (Westminster area); Taneytown (21787) and Hampstead (21074) each accounted for five referrals.
Lowry described expanded outreach in FY25, including participation at food distribution days in Taneytown and Union Bridge and community events, and continued engagement with schools on attendance and truancy referrals. The LCT provides a family action plan to parents within three business days after a review and follows up at one week, one month and three months to monitor progress and determine whether additional supports are needed.
Commissioners thanked staff for outreach and collaboration; one commissioner asked whether a high concentration of referrals from Hampstead and Taneytown reflected local service availability or population differences. Lowry and other staff said referral counts vary year to year and that the LCT's availability and outreach partly explain referral patterns. The LCT emphasized that families can self‑refer and that school staff are frequent referrers.
Lowry closed by thanking partner agencies and noting that the LCT will continue problem‑solving to connect families with appropriate services and supports.
Speakers quoted in this article are limited to the LCT staff and county officials listed below.
