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Montgomery County reviews HHS reorganization and new school-based mental-health structure in FY27 budget
Summary
County committee reviewed an HHS reorganization that realigns Children, Youth & Family services and creates a dedicated school‑based mental health program area; staff said the CE recommends a roughly $10M increase to CYF with a $7.2M Lighthouse boost and modest FTE adjustments.
Montgomery County council staff opened the joint Education & Culture and Health & Human Services session by saying the FY27 executive recommendation shows about a $10,000,000, or 21.2%, increase for the Children, Youth and Family service area and that $7.2 million of that increase is related to the Lighthouse initiative.
Laurie Garabe Aquino, chief of Children, Youth and Family Services, summarized the reorganization and new program areas, telling the committee: "We have 5 program areas... a new program area to CYF is our community action agency... And then finally, we have our special projects and initiatives." Aquino provided early performance figures for existing programs and noted the Lighthouse program has transitioned into a grant model.
Monica Martin, chief of Behavioral Health and Crisis Services, said the school‑based mental health and related services program will centralize services moved from other program areas and strengthen coordination with MCPS. "The synergy and opportunities for much closer coordination and integration across CYF and BHCS have been very exciting to be a part of," Martin said.
The packet provided staff analysis of vacancies, multi‑program adjustments and service impact data; council staff flagged that the reorganization shifts some social‑services functions into a separate Social Services service area. The committee did not make a final authorization but placed several enhancements and adjustments on the reconciliation list for full‑council consideration.
The next procedural step is for the full council to consider the reconciliation list entries and any requested technical fixes to program titles and budget line alignment.
