In last week’s Part 1 of 3, we confronted the heartbreaking reality of Maryland’s youth mental health crisis: children and young adults “boarding” in emergency rooms for hours, days and even weeks because the intensive treatment facilities they need are full or out of reach. We discussed the ripple effects — the anguish of families and teachers who have nowhere to turn until a crisis forces them to seek help in the nearest emergency room.
The Eastern Shore has long been a desert for intensive mental health treatment. For families here, a child in crisis often means hour-long drives to the Western Shore, stripping away the local support systems vital to recovery. While we have dedicated outpatient clinicians, the Shore continues to suffer from a systemic lack of inpatient and “step-down” services, including adolescent and youth clinical specialists.
For three years, leadership across the Mid-Shore and Upper Shore counties has been working to change this. Our goal is to provide a dedicated adolescent and young adult inpatient unit (serving up to age 26) coupled with a Partial Hospitalization Program…