Commissioners approve jail behavioral‑health grants, MOUD grant application and research MOU
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Summary
The board approved $665,257 in FY26 agreements with the health department to fund jail‑based mental health and reentry services, authorized a FY27 PIGF application for $259,320 to fund two nurses for MOUD services, and approved an MOU with Friends Research Institute for a NIH HEAL study that includes $25,000 per year to the county.
The commissioners approved multiple agreements and applications intended to fund behavioral-health services at the St. Mary's County Detention and Rehabilitation Center and authorized participation in a research study aimed at improving medication treatment and reentry supports.
Health department staff described three FY26 grant agreements to support jail mental‑health services, jail‑based medication‑assisted treatment, reentry work and other supports, totaling $665,257. Commissioners moved and approved those agreements on the record.
Separately, the board approved submission of a FY27 Performance Incentive Grant Fund (PIGF) application requesting $259,320 to cover two contracted registered nurses to sustain the jail‑based medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) program. Presenters said prior grants that covered these positions expire June 30, 2026 and the application seeks to continue staffing required by Maryland law.
Commissioners also authorized a multiyear memorandum of understanding with Friends Research Institute to participate in a National Institutes of Health HEAL initiative study that will recruit incarcerated participants with MOUD diagnoses and follow them after release. The county will receive $25,000 per fiscal year for four years (a total of $100,000), presenters said, and the MOU is structured as a revenue grant for services performed during the randomized-control trial.
Why it matters: the actions maintain services that state law requires for people with opioid use disorder in detention settings, support continuity of care at release, and tie local operations to a federally funded research initiative.
What happened next: motions to approve the agreements, the PIGF application and the MOU passed with recorded 'Aye' votes.
