Van Hollen, Cardin, Submit Appropriations Requests Supporting Local Workforce Training, Health Care, and Education Projects
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin (both D-Md.) have released their requests for Congressionally Directed Spending for projects under the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee for Fiscal Year 2022. The senators’ requests will help strengthen local health care infrastructure, expand educational and economic opportunities, provide diverse resources for those struggling with addiction issues and solidify Maryland’s position as a hub for STEM and biomedical development.
Senator Van Hollen serves as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator Cardin is a member of the Senate Finance Health Care Subcommittee.
“Investing in Marylanders’ success means investing in community services that create new opportunities and support the health and wellbeing of our residents – from job training and education initiatives to crisis assistance and behavioral health programs. Working together with local partners, we can provide folks across our state with new pathways for success and ensure that help is there for those who need it most. That’s why we’ve teamed up with these organizations and are working to bring federal dollars to these crucial programs. Together, we will continue pushing to invest in Maryland and bring greater opportunity and prosperity to our communities,” said Senator Van Hollen.
“Access to educational and job training opportunities, health care and emergency services should not be limited by your zip code. We have worked with local officials and nonprofits statewide to identify structural and programmatic solutions that will make a meaningful difference in the lives of Marylanders, particularly our most vulnerable or those who have faced historic barriers to success,” said Senator Cardin. “Through targeted Congressionally Directed Spending, Team Maryland strives to support local initiatives that will make our communities healthier, safer and more equitable.”
Senator Van Hollen’s FY22 requests can be found here. Senator Cardin’s FY22 requests can be found here. These pages will be updated as Appropriations subcommittee requests are submitted.
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee
PROJECT TITLE: Auto Mechanic Training and Placement
Recipient Name: Vehicles for Change
Location: Halethorpe, MD (headquarters)
Amount: $1 million
Project Purpose: Vehicles for Change is a non-profit that helps provide families in need with cars, while conducting workforce training for formerly incarcerated individuals. Funds would support training locations in Halethorpe, Salisbury, and Hyattsville to help individuals with barriers to employment become auto mechanics through a 4-month paid internship. Graduates of the program obtain certifications and full-time employment at local dealerships and independent garages throughout the state.
PROJECT TITLE: Baltimore Grads to Careers Demonstration Project Expansion
Recipient Name: City of Baltimore, Maryland
Project Location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Amount Requested: $500,000
Project Purpose: To expand the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Economic Development’s Grads to Careers Demonstration Project. Six years after graduation from Baltimore City Public Schools, City School graduates who did not attend college or job training programs have an average yearly earnings of $15,000. The Mayor’s Office of Economic Development has recently created the Grads to Careers program that aims to identify potential future disconnected youth and while in high school, connect these individuals who will be eligible for career training programs and provide them with a pathway to enroll in in-demand training programs after graduation of high school. Under the first two years of the program, program participants have an average annualized salary of $28,000 to $29,000 just six months after graduation. Additional federal funding will allow the WIOA eligible program to serve an additional 50 disconnected youth.
PROJECT TITLE: Best Buddies in Maryland Inclusion Project for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Recipient Name: Best Buddies International, Inc.
Location: Baltimore City, MD (Headquarters)
Amount: $250,000
Project Purpose: Funds would be used to support the Best Buddies in Maryland Inclusion Project to help students with intellectual and developmental disabilities develop peer relationships, carry out student-led inclusive group activities, and provide leadership training to students across Maryland.
PROJECT TITLE: Bridge from School to Work
Recipient Name: TranZed Academy for Working Students (TAWS), a service line under the Children's Guild
Location: Prince George's County
Amount: $1 million
Project
Purpose:
Funds will support the work of the TranZed Academy for Working Students (TAWS)
and the TranZed Apprenticeship Service (TAS), both programs of The
Children's Guild. These programs help high school students in Prince George’s
and Montgomery Counties access work opportunities and apprenticeships while
providing career counseling, mentoring, and wraparound supports like
transportation and child care. They aim to provide a comprehensive path from
high school to sustainable employment with training, skills-development,
and recruitment and placement.
PROJECT TITLE: Cecil County Mental Health Initiative, Ashley Addiction Treatment
Recipient Name: Ashley Addiction Treatment
Project Location: Cecil County, Maryland
Amount Requested: $1.5 million
Project Purpose: Support the Cecil County Mental Health Initiative under Ashley Addiction Treatment. According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Cecil County is a geographic mental health professional shortage area. Given this staffing need, the Cecil County Mental Health Initiative will be instrumental in increasing access to mental health services for patients in need. The pandemic may have increased the need for mental health services, particularly for the uninsured or underinsured individual who may otherwise not have access to treatment. Funding for this project would allow Ashley Addiction Center to fill mental health staffing shortages in Cecil County to provide additional mental health services to this community, including for individuals involved in the justice system. Allocated funds would support salaries of full time employees and associated infrastructure support costs. This project would serve as a community asset by enabling Cecil Community to better address access to mental health services.
PROJECT TITLE: Center for Employment Opportunities
Recipient Name: National Federation of the Blind
Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount: $150,000
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to develop a Center for Employment Opportunity (CEO) to assist blind people as they work to gain the skills, competence, and confidence to move into competitive integrated employment that is commensurate with their talents and abilities. The CEO will also provide employers with the tools they need to recruit, hire, train, and promote blind employees.
PROJECT TITLE: Consent2Share in Prince George’s County Health Department Patient Records
Recipient Name: Office of the Prince George's County Executive
Project Location: Prince George’s County, Maryland
Amount Requested: $1 million
Project Purpose: Allow the Prince George’s County Health Department (PGCHD) to consolidate electronic medical and behavioral health records into one electronic health record system in order to improve patient care. PGCHD currently houses medical (somatic) and behavioral health records on two separate electronic health record systems. Care coordination services offered by PGCHD would be more comprehensive if the records were integrated into one patient record. However, patients need to have the option to consent to sharing their information this way, pursuant to 42 CFR. PGCHD will adapt the SAMSHA-funded Consent2Share module to allow patients to opt into mental and somatic health record integration for their care coordination services with the Department. Federal funding will leverage an existing tool to implement Consent2Share on a large scale for all PGCHD patients and lead to greater patient outcomes.
PROJECT TITLE: CreativeWorks Job Training Program: Promoting Access to College and Careers
Recipient Name: World Arts Focus, Inc. d/b/a Joe’s Movement Emporium
Location: Prince George's County
Amount: $300,000
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to expand CreativeWorks, a paid job training program supporting the college and career readiness of Prince George's County Public School (PGCPS) high school seniors, recent graduates, and Prince George's Community College students. CreativeWorks participants receive training in theater tech, digital media, photography, and movie production and can access internship and job opportunities at a range of employer partners, including the Smithsonian, Community Forklift, and Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center. Currently in its 13th year, nearly 500 youth have graduated from the CreativeWorks job training program.
PROJECT TITLE: Drop Anywhere Lab
Recipient Name: Learning Undefeated, Inc.
Location: Gaithersburg, MD (Headquarters)
Amount: $600,000
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to purchase scientific equipment, student supplies, and laboratory equipment, and to hire staff for two Drop Anywhere Labs. These labs are custom-fit STEM learning spaces built from modified shipping containers and used by schools one week at a time. Less expensive and more impactful than brick-and-mortar science lab buildings, these labs offer a blend of career and skills education with flexible in-classroom resources that empower teachers and serve up to four classes simultaneously. Targeted at underserved communities, including Baltimore, the immersive learning environment provides authentic, real-world learning co-developed with teachers and STEM industry subject matter experts to introduce students to high-paying, high-demand careers while building teacher capacity in STEM.
PROJECT TITLE: EveryMind Crisis Prevention and Intervention Capacity Building
Recipient Name: EveryMind
Location: Rockville, MD
Amount: $317,100
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to provide technology improvements to improve the sustainability and effectiveness of EveryMind’s remote and virtual services. EveryMind has 64 years of expertise and experience in serving Maryland's communities' and their most vulnerable populations' mental health needs. This expertise is precisely what will ensure our mental health and crisis prevention and our intervention services target those Marylanders most in need and especially youth, teens, homeless, elderly, veteran, and BIPOC communities who may have decreased access to care.
PROJECT TITLE: Federalsburg Health Center Construction for Choptank Community Health System
Recipient Name: Choptank Community Health System
Project Location: Federalsburg, Maryland
Amount Requested: $800,000 - $6 million
Project Purpose: Support the construction of a new Federalsburg Health Center to better serve the medically underserved residents of Caroline County, Maryland. The proposed building will provide examination rooms for family medicine, behavioral health, medication assisted treatment, women’s health, and dentistry. As well as a waiting area, patient services, provider offices, a special purpose training room, restrooms, healthcare support function areas, communications, and mechanical spaces. The facility will also host training and classroom space for Choptank Community Health System’s Rural Residency Program and Teaching Health Center Development. The resulting facility will result in a larger and better organized facility, well-suited to deliver services to the community of Federalsburg and surrounding areas.
PROJECT TITLE: FoodWorks Culinary Training Program Expansion
Recipient Name: Maryland Food Bank, Inc.
Location: Baltimore County, MD
Amount: $750,000
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to expand the FoodWorks Program, which provides underserved adults in the Baltimore metropolitan area with culinary and life-skills training along with case management support to secure a sustainable career in the hospitality industry. More than 40 restaurants, institutions, and caterers in Maryland hire FoodWorks students, who are trained in partnership with the Community College of Baltimore County and receive ServSafe certifications.
PROJECT TITLE: Frederick County Crisis Stabilization Center
Recipient Name: Frederick County Office of the County Executive
Project Location: Frederick, Maryland
Amount Requested: $846,303
Project Purpose: Support the Frederick County Crisis Stabilization Center, which will be a 24/7 program that is responsive to local needs, grounded in a public health framework, and integrated into the behavioral health crisis care system in Frederick County. It will divert people who are in crisis and/or under the influence of a substance away from emergency departments and provide stronger links to community-based behavioral health care for individuals who have not been engaged well by the behavioral health system. It will create another non-traditional access point for individuals who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis and may include those with behavioral health disorders who engage in high-risk substance use and related behaviors and who are at risk of overdose or other harmful behaviors. The initiative would significantly improve access to quality treatment to Frederick County and regional residents suffering from opioid and other substance addictions.
PROJECT TITLE: Gaudenzia Park Heights Kitchen Renovations
Recipient Name: Gaudenzia, Inc.
Project Location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Amount Requested: $83,000
Project Purpose: Support the renovations of the Gaudenzia Park Heights kitchens to better serve more than 175 daily residents of Gaudenzia’s drug and alcohol rehabilitation services in Baltimore City. The proposed kitchen improvements will allow the kitchen to be used as a training space for clients seeking their ServSafe certification and potentially for meal preparation classes to increase life transition training for our clients. The update will increase its usability to optimize use in providing nutritious meals for our clients and their families post discharge. This is intended to increase client resilience, thereby improving their ability to function, clean and sober, post program completion.
PROJECT TITLE: Grassroots New Outpatient Mental Health Clinic
Recipient Name: Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center, Inc.
Location: Columbia, Maryland
Amount: $500,000
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to support the Grassroots Outpatient Mental Health Clinic as it expands to offer a wider range of behavioral health services in addition to its current crisis intervention programs and Mobile Crisis Team. The expansion will provide individual and group psychotherapy, psychiatry services, and case management to address patients’ unique needs.
PROJECT: Greater Washington Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse Victim Services
Recipient Name: Greater Washington Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse
Location: Rockville, MD
Amount: $297,500
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to support an increase in demand for services and support from the Greater Washington Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse Victim (JCADA). JCADA works to end power-based violence by empowering survivors and ensuring safe communities through clinical support, advocacy, and direct legal services as well as educational programming for youth, parents, educators and other professionals.
PROJECT TITLE: Healthcare on the SPOT
Recipient Name: Baltimore City
Location: Baltimore, MD
Amount: $458,370
Project Purpose: Funds would be used to deploy a second mobile treatment van with staff and supplies in Baltimore City to provide medication-assisted treatment. The Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) partnered in 2018 to launch the first mobile treatment van. The van currently provides free medication-assisted treatment (MAT), wound care, HIV and hepatitis-C testing and care, and case management services. This second van would expand free and accessible treatment and help to reduce Baltimore’s overdose incidents in areas of most urgent need.
PROJECT: Howard Community College Center for Inclusive Excellence and Student Success
Recipient Name: Howard Community College
Location: Columbia, Maryland
Amount: $750,000
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to launch the Center for Inclusive Excellence and Student Success at Howard Community College to support low-income residents who are first-generation college students and students with disabilities. The goal of the Center for Inclusive Excellence and Student Success is to increase graduate, transfer, and retention rates for first-generation, low-income, and racial-ethnic minority students. It will provide credit and non-credit support through academic coaching/advising and peer mentoring; financial literacy; career counseling; on- and off-campus internship opportunities; and culturally and educationally enriching experiences.
PROJECT TITLE: Humanim Workforce Development and Social Enterprise Initiatives
Recipient Name: Humanim, Inc.
Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount: $500,000
Project Purpose: Humanim has a 50-year history of providing services to support and empower individuals through human services, youth services, workforce development, and social enterprise. Funds will be used for Humanim’s workforce programs, including the statewide Direct Support Professional (DSP) Apprenticeship Program, which operates with partners in government, school systems, and service providers to increase career paths for the unemployed to reach living wage jobs. Funds would also support a partnership with Obran Cooperative to grow the field of DSPs using an employee ownership model. And funds would support City Seeds, Humanim’s East Baltimore culinary social enterprise, which has been providing training and employment opportunities for Baltimore residents with barriers to employment since 2016.
PROJECT TITLE: Imagination Stage’s Theatre for Change
Recipient Name: Imagination Stage
Location: Bethesda, MD
Amount: $351,338
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to grow two key programs which are part of Imagination Stage’s Theatre for Change initiative: Oyeme!, a workshop and play based on the stories of immigrant youth, and "10 Seconds," a play based on our Youth and Police Partnership (YPP), which is put on in collaboration with regional police departments. Over the past eight years, these programs have reached over 8,000 youth and educators in Montgomery County and Washington, D.C. and given students the opportunity to use the arts to engage with critical issues.
PROJECT TITLE: Integrated Learning Center at Kennedy Krieger Institute
Recipient Name: Kennedy Krieger Institute
Project Location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Amount Requested: $1.25 million
Project Purpose: Support the Integrated Learning Center demonstration at Kennedy Krieger Institute. The proposed site aligns with current, high-priority efforts in Maryland to strengthen results by advancing equity and inclusion for young children and their families, including through initiatives supported by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) Division of Early Childhood, Division of Early Intervention and Special Education Services, and Maryland Department of Health Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Kennedy Krieger will establish evidence-based early childhood education demonstration sites that improve social/emotional, functional, and behavioral outcomes for children, with a focus on: 1) increasing access with defined outcomes; 2) advancing equity with meaningful participation; and 3) promoting progress with acceleration to close the learning gaps for young children with special needs.
PROJECT TITLE: Interdisciplinary Research Center at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Recipient Name: The University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Project Location: Princess Anne, Maryland
Amount Requested: $350,000
Project Purpose: Support the establishment of an Interdisciplinary Research Center at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) that will serve as the academic hub for the University. The Center would support the research and learning environment for the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) faculty and graduate students in an effort to increase the graduation rates of graduate students and lead to increased research productivity and maintenance of the Carnegie Classification (High Research Activity). It is proposed that graduate rates will increase by providing support in the areas of writing, research development, financial resources and research infrastructure and will provide resources that will support researchers and increase grant and contract development and proposal submission. Personnel of the Center will provide administrative, research support, and professional development to faculty and students through workshops, training, and experiential learning. These proposed activities will increase the number of faculty and students who are conducting peer-reviewed research and assist in the research infrastructure needs.
PROJECT TITLE: Johns Hopkins Research Partnership
Recipient Name: Ashley Addiction Treatment
Location: Havre de Grace, MD
Amount: $531,388
Project Purpose: Funds will be used for a substance use disorder treatment program partnership with John Hopkins University to research the effectiveness of treatments. This partnership would build upon previous Ashley Addiction Treatment efforts in advancing scientific research to identify and implement new and more effective forms of treatment for Maryland residents suffering from opioid and other substance addictions.
PROJECT TITLE: Living Classrooms Foundation Crisis Management System
Recipient Name: Living Classrooms Foundation
Project Location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Amount Requested: $750,000
Project Purpose: Establish a Crisis Management System at the Living Classrooms Foundation (LCF) to work in tandem with their existing Workforce Development System and strengthen their State Streets initiative. Safe Streets violence prevention efforts in McElderry Park (since 2008) and Belair-Edison (since 2018) have been effective at mediating conflicts which may lead to violence via the Cure Violence model (formerly Ceasefire developed in Chicago). This project will strengthen and expand upon the existing Safe Streets initiative by streamlining and increasing access to work through a rapidly expanding network of essential skills training, job training, and job placement opportunities offered by both LCF and their partners. As part of this new system, LCF will assemble a team of Case Managers and community members who will be trained to mediate disputes and dedicated to helping individuals navigate alternatives to gun violence. The team will identify individuals and families who are at risk of being involved or have been affected by violence and connect them with immediate job training opportunities and other wrap-around supports in real time. Through continued partnerships and Resource Asset Mapping, they will build a comprehensive network of resources that draw upon evidence-based best practices and address underlying issues to reduce violence long-term. This nonprofit partnership will build the capacity of Baltimoreans to help address rising levels of gun violence in Baltimore.
PROJECT TITLE: The Lourie Center Trauma-Informed Preschool
Recipient Name: Reginald S. Lourie Center for Infants and Young Children, Inc., d/b/a The Lourie Center for Children’s Social and Emotional Wellness
Location: Gaithersburg, MD
Amount: $970,000
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to launch a Trauma-Informed Care & Preschool Project ECHO to establish an expert hub to train early childhood educators to more effectively support children experiencing trauma in their classrooms, reduce suspension and expulsion in preschool, and foster resiliency against teacher burnout and secondary traumatization -- made even more pressing by the pandemic. The Lourie Center serves children and families in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties.
PROJECT TITLE: Maryland Statewide Computing Alignment to Locate your Education Pathway (SCALE) Portal
Recipient Name: University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Location: Baltimore, MD (Headquarters)
Amount: $750,000
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to build and code the Maryland Statewide Computing Alignment to Locate your Education pathway (SCALE) project, which will provide computing education training and/or industry certification pathway for young people to enter Maryland's technologically advanced workforce. The SCALE Portal will include self-assessments, aptitude assessments, virtual training, mentoring, apprenticeships, internships, and integration into a Learner Credential Network. The Portal will connect several existing state education and workforce development programs, including: Employment Advancement Right Now (EARN) Maryland, the Maryland Business Works program, and Maryland Apprenticeship Programs. It will also help expand the Computing Career and Technical Education program, which provides pathways for students from fifth grade through community college. Finally, the Portal will connect individuals directly to information about workforce needs and to job openings.
PROJECT TITLE: Melwood abilIT Federal Neurodiversity Workforce Pilot Program
Recipient Name: Melwood Horticultural Training Center (Melwood)
Project Location: Upper Marlboro, Maryland
Amount Requested: $1.5 – $1.6 million
Project Purpose: Expand Melwood’s abilIT Federal Workforce Pilot Program to provide an additional 20 program participants with the job training and workforce experience necessary to gain employment with a federal cybersecurity agency. Federal funding will allow Melwood to scale up a federal neurodiversity workforce pilot program, leveraging Melwood’s past performance in disability employment and the expertise of our advisory partners. This project will fill an unmet technical need in the federal workforce, provide job opportunities for people with disabilities who are at greater risk of under- or unemployment, and enable independent living for people with disabilities, thereby reducing reliance on government services as they transition into full employment.
PROJECT TITLE: Montgomery County Stabilization Center
Recipient Name: Montgomery County Maryland Government
Location: Rockville, MD
Amount: $1 million
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to plan and develop a Stabilization Center where behavioral health, medical, and social work professionals work together with peer support specialists to provide short-term 24- or 48-hour services to help those experiencing a behavioral health or substance use crisis. The Stabilization Center will serve as an alternative to incarceration and emergency rooms.
PROJECT TITLE: National Federation of the Blind Center for Employment Opportunities
Recipient Name: National Federation of the Blind
Project Location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Amount Requested: $150,000
Project Purpose: For the National Federation of the Blind (NFIB) to establish a Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) to give blind people the tools, techniques, and skills to succeed in their professional careers of choice. Federal funding would allow NFIB to develop programming to include: Each One Teach One, Train the Trainer, and the Virtual Career Club. To encourage employers in their efforts to diversify their workforces to include blind workers, the Center will operate an Employer Leadership Network. The initial phase of the project will include the hiring of additional staff members, purchasing equipment and supplies to operate the program virtual programming, and paying for travel related to providing support for NFIB affiliates with other vocational rehabilitation agencies across the country. The program is intended to become self-sustaining through the purchase of the CEO program by national affiliates once the program is fully operational.
PROJECT TITLE: One Love Foundation Education Center
Recipient Name: One Love Foundation
Location: Baltimore, MD
Amount: $1 million
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to expand the offerings of One Love’s online Education Center that provides educators with a robust suite of free tools and resources to teach young people about healthy relationships and empower them to identify and avoid abuse. The platform includes professional development trainings, lesson plans, activities, implementation supports, high quality video-and-discussion-based workshop materials, and toolkits to foster discussion about relationships and friendship in diverse communities and teach healthy communications tools to build connection and avoid conflict.
PROJECT TITLE: Park West Health System Capital Expansion Project
Recipient Name: Park West Health System
Project Location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Amount Requested: $2 million
Project Purpose: For the Park West Health System Capital Expansion Project to better serve the residents of West Baltimore. This funding will allow for the expansion of their existing Federally Qualified Health Center facility, a fraternity social house from the 1950s that does not meet modern standards for patient care. If funded, the expansion will allow this health system serving a medically underserved community to see 30 percent more patients annually and the behavioral health unit to include Youth Services (youth advocacy, school-based therapy, youth intervention); Family and Group Therapies; Violence Prevention; Addictive Behaviors; Psychotherapy and Mental Health (trauma, interpersonal skills and creative expression therapy). The project will consist of more than 25,000 square feet of expansion and renovations, including addressing existing asbestos remediation issues and increasing Americans with Disabilities Act compliance. The facility serves the needs of residents of the Park Heights communities regardless of their ability to pay; no one in need of medical services is turned away from seeking care.
PROJECT TITLE: Program Enhancement through redesign of courses to meet online Quality Assurance
Recipient Name: Coppin State University
Project Location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Amount Requested: $1.55 million
Project Purpose: Allow Coppin State University to meet their objective of expanding online program offerings. Federal funding will allow Coppin State to redesign its 62 general education requirement courses to meet Quality Assurance standards and ensure that students receive a quality education experience regardless of their experience in the classroom or through online programming.
PROJECT TITLE: Renovation of University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Nursing Facility at the Universities at Shady Grove
Recipient Name: University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Nursing
Location: Rockville, MD
Amount: $1,850,000
Project Purpose: Funding would be used to renovate the University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Nursing facility at the Universities of Shady Grove, including creating additional simulation learning space; 3D immersion functionality; a new assessment lab with control room; a state-of-the-art hospital training suite; a “Student Success” suite with advising, tutoring, and study groups; and office space to accommodate new faculty.
PROJECT TITLE: Returning Citizens Workforce Development Program
Recipient Name: Greater Baltimore Urban League
Location: Baltimore, MD
Amount: $800,000
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to provide work-ready development/training and social services in Baltimore City and Frederick and Montgomery Counties as part of the Greater Baltimore Urban League’s plans for successful employment of citizens returning from the justice system. Through its Returning Citizens Work-Ready & Employment (RCE) initiative, the Greater Baltimore Urban League will deliver targeted coaching, soft skills and computer training, career counseling, stipends, and other workforce support services to help returning citizens re-integrate into the community through gainful employment.
PROJECT TITLE: Saturday Leadership Program
Recipient Name: Greater Baltimore Urban League
Location: Baltimore, MD
Amount: $320,000
Project Purpose: Funds would be used to serve Black students from neighborhoods across Baltimore City in the Greater Baltimore Urban League’s Saturday Leadership Program. The program, which includes college visits and cultural and STEM-based field trips, is designed to help students confront barriers to education and learn soft skills to keep them on the track to college.
PROJECT TITLE: Sheppard Pratt Institute for Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics
Recipient Name: Sheppard Pratt
Project Location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Amount Requested: $1.2 million
Project Purpose: Support the Sheppard Pratt Institute for Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics. For individuals living with opioid addiction and substance use disorders, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it harder to access treatment and recovery services. The pandemic may have also exacerbated existing disparities in the mental health care system in the U.S., including for individuals in marginalized communities. Esketamine, a recently FDA-approved anesthetic used to treat depression, requires tailored and logistically challenging clinical administration settings. To help address this need, Sheppard Pratt proposes setting up the necessary infrastructure for an Esketamine dosing clinic for inpatients and outpatients while also providing case studies and lectures on the subject to improve clinician education on the subject. The funding request for this project will cover the personnel needed to staff the clinic and call center, time for the project director and guest lecturers, and indirect costs. This project would enable Sheppard Pratt to continue leading efforts to better treat and provide access to comprehensive mental health services, including for at-risk communities.
PROJECT TITLE: Southern Streams Health and Wellness Center at Mary Harvin CDC
Recipient Name: Mary Harvin Transformation Center CDC
Project Location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Amount Requested: $5 million
Project Purpose: Support the Mary Harvin Community Development Corporation’s Southern Streams Health and Wellness Center project. Once fully constructed, this 120,000 square foot facility will dedicate nearly 47,000 square feet to providing community-based health care in a medically underserved community where nearly half of residents qualify as low-income. Recognizing the community needs of residents, this facility will allow residents to treat a myriad of health disparities including kidney disease, blood disease, strokes, diabetes, and kidney care. Dedicated spaces for mental health services, dental services, adult daycare/nursing facilities, and emergency health care services will be established with federal funding. On other floors that are funded through non-federal dollars, the facility will serve other community resident needs, including library services and job training and financial literacy programs.
PROJECT TITLE: Supporting and Scaling Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems
Recipient Name: University of Maryland School of Medicine, National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH)
Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount: $1 million
Project Purpose: Funds will expand the work of the National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH), which is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services to advance comprehensive school mental health systems in Maryland and nationally. With additional funding, NCSMH will be able to improve staffing, technology, and communications to share best practices for identifying students with mental health concerns, decrease chronic absenteeism, and build school and community mental health services and supports.
PROJECT TITLE: Transforming Prince George's County Through Trauma-Informed Care
Recipient Name: Prince George's County Department of Social Services
Location: Prince George's County
Amount: $500,000
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to support community-wide intervention activities to integrate trauma-informed practices in the child welfare system and other child-serving systems in Prince George’s County, including the court system, Department of Juvenile Justice, Child Advocate Center, Prince George’s Community College, and non-profit service providers. Trauma-informed practices will help deliver more appropriate services to families interacting with various social services and improve outcomes for children.
PROJECT TITLE: Union, Apprenticeship Sponsor, and Employer Engagement Project for Kirwan High School CTE Expansion
Recipient Name: Maryland Workforce Alliance
Location: Columbia, Maryland (Headquarters)
Amount: $900,000
Project Purpose: Funds will be used to develop a coordinated program, including small grants and technical assistance, to recruit a network of employers’ unions and apprenticeship sponsors to work with Maryland’s local school systems to provide career and technical education opportunities. Students would learn about skills related to their work in addition to required academic courses. The Maryland Workforce Alliance will also educate apprenticeship sponsors and employers registered with the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation or local workforce development boards on how to get access to students' Armed Services Vocational Aptitudes Battery (ASVAB) test scores.
PROJECT TITLE: University of Maryland, Baltimore County Shady Grove Biomanufacturing Center
Recipient Name: University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Project Location: Rockville, Maryland
Amount Requested: $470,000 - $750,000
Project Purpose: Support necessary equipment purchase for the UMBC Shady Grove Biomanufacturing Center to create biomanufacturing-related laboratory projects and class demonstrations at UMBC’s facilities at The Universities at Shady Grove (USG). These lab modules would then be integrated into the undergraduate and graduate biotechnology degree programs, which are focused on workforce development, used to initiate industry-relevant student internship projects, and leveraged to create a short-term training for workers displaced because of the COVID-19-related economic downturn, as well as enable them to educate more students and trainees and grow Maryland’s STEM workforce.
PROJECT TITLE: Wicomico County Public Schools Middle School Signature Program Expansion
Recipient Name: Wicomico County Board of Education
Project Location: Salisbury, Maryland
Amount Requested: $275,000
Project Purpose: Support the Middle School Signature Program Expansion program at Wicomico County Public Schools, including research and planning of additional signature programs for middle school students in Wicomico County Public Schools. Currently one program at Salisbury Middle School is designed for students with interest in the various STEM fields. With this funding, additional signature programs would be planned for our other middle schools to include different focus areas to engage students with other areas of interest.