Get AI Briefings, Transcripts & Alerts on Local & National Government Meetings — Forever.
Montgomery County reviews major HHS reorganization, boosts Lighthouse and school-based mental health in FY27 budget
Loading...
Summary
County council joint committee reviewed a DHHS realignment that moves school-based mental health into Behavioral Health & Crisis Services, folds several programs into new CYF areas, and proposes embedding the Lighthouse immigrant-stability initiative in the base budget with expanded grant funding and wraparound staff.
Montgomery County’s joint committee on Education & Culture and Health & Human Services spent its work session reviewing a departmental realignment and FY27 operating budget changes that officials said aim to coordinate services for children, youth and families.
DHHS staff said the reorganization moves functions such as school-based mental health under Behavioral Health & Crisis Services and separates social services into its own service area so programs and staff better align with their missions. “This reflects the county’s commitment to building a coordinated equitable system of care,” the meeting host said during opening remarks.
Laurie Garabe Aquino, chief of Children, Youth & Family Services, outlined five CYF program areas now including a Community Action Agency (the county’s locally legislated anti-poverty agency), a renamed youth-violence prevention area, a Lighthouse program area and a special projects and initiatives hub. Aquino said the Lighthouse initiative — now grant-based — served just over 1,400 unique families in the first four months of the grant period, produced nearly 1,800 outbound referrals and closed 236 cases; of those closed cases, 94% achieved stabilization and 59% reached self-sufficiency. “We’ve had just a little over 1,400 unique families served through Lighthouse,” Aquino said.
Monica Martin, chief of Behavioral Health & Crisis Services, described the county’s school-linked services: Linkages to Learning now operates at 33 schools (25 elementary, 8 middle), bridge-to-wellness covers high schools without wellness centers, and therapeutic mentoring prioritizes middle school students. Martin said the combined initiatives serve roughly 2,400 clients daily across more than 52 MCPS schools and cited high outcome measures in care management and clinical benchmarks. “Your investment is paying off,” she told the committee when citing comparative recovery and improvement rates.
On staffing and operations, the packet shows vacancies in CYF (10 positions) and school health services (15 positions), and DHHS proposed adding nurse manager positions to improve nurse-manager-to-staff ratios. Department staff said proposed changes include roughly a $10 million increase in the children, youth and family service area and an executive recommendation that would add $7.2 million tied to Lighthouse in FY27.
Why it matters: the reorganization consolidates services that intersect with MCPS operations and moves Lighthouse from one‑time funding into the base budget to allow multi‑year grants, department officials said. Committee members asked for continued tracking of access and utilization after schedule reductions at underutilized clinic sites were proposed and asked that DHHS provide outcome data and transition MOUs before any full transfer of programs to MCPS.
Next steps: several items — including Lighthouse funding, nurse-manager additions and other enhancements or reductions — were placed on the reconciliation list for full council consideration; DHHS and council staff agreed to supply additional memos and MOUs to clarify transitions and funding flows.
