The Hogan administration has announced $19.6 million in statewide grant awards to Maryland’s Local Management Boards. Located in all 23 counties and Baltimore City, the Local Management Boards (LMBs) bring together resources at the local level to strengthen services to children, youth, and families. These non-competitive grants will fund more than 120 child- and family-focused community-based programs in Fiscal Year 2019.
“Our administration is committed to ensuring Maryland’s families in need are better equipped to achieve economic stability and have access to greater opportunities,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “These grants enable our network of Local Management Boards to assist thousands of families by providing life-changing resources including anti-hunger initiatives, job readiness programs, and parenting workshops.”
Through an extensive planning process that involved input from hundreds of community members in every jurisdiction, the LMBs identified strategies that will address critical needs for children, youth, and families in their jurisdictions and are aligned with Governor Hogan’s goal of an economically secure Maryland. These awards continue Maryland’s commitment to improving outcomes and positions Maryland as a leader in developing solutions to issues that have far-reaching impacts for children and families in communities across the State.
“The Governor’s Office for Children recognizes and appreciates the unique role of the Local Management Boards in understanding the specific concerns of their communities and developing corresponding programs for children, youth, and families,” said Jaclin Warner Wiggins, acting executive director of the Governor’s Office for Children. “These crucial groups are at the front lines to identify the most pressing needs of our children and their families. We are grateful to be able to fund the many promising programs for the coming year.”
The FY19 programs and strategies proposed by LMBs focus on interventions for some of Maryland’s most vulnerable populations to include families and children impacted by caregiver incarceration, disconnected or “opportunity” youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither working nor attending school, children and youth who are food-insecure, and youth who are experiencing homelessness. These interventions represent new pathways to opportunities and a push for systemic change that will further Governor Hogan’s vision of ensuring an economically secure Maryland for all.
For example, Caroline County plans to implement several anti-hunger strategies to address high local rates of poverty and food insecurity. Central to the plan is the convening of an anti-hunger coalition to build capacity in the community and develop a coordinated approach to ending childhood hunger. Other strategies include a program that provides 12 weeks of intense culinary training, supporting the need for professionally trained staff for the hospitality industry, and providing a fresh start to underemployed or unemployed individuals.
For the full list of grants and programs, click here.
