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mh/childr.pr 97-18 Contact: Mary Anderson, 301-217-1702;
David Weaver, 301-217-6530
DUNCAN, LT. GOVERNOR ANNOUNCE
EXPANDED INITIATIVES AND FUNDING
FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES For Immediate Release: January 23,1997
Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan was joined today by State
and County officials to announce a series of new initiatives aimed at
enhancing services to families in need, including health, housing and child
care.
The initiatives include the Linkages to Learning, Family Unification and
Purchase of Care programs, which will receive $1.75 million in State and
Federal funding. The funding will allow for an increase in the number of
Montgomery County families eligible for these services.
"Making a difference in the well-being of our children and their
families, is the single most important mission that we can accomplish," said
Duncan. "These programs do just that, and we will continue to look for ways to
add even more resources to meet the increasing needs of our community."
Duncan was joined in the announcement by Lieutenant Governor Kathleen
Kennedy Townsend, County Council President Marilyn J. Praisner, Board of
Education Member Mona Signer, Associate Superintendent of Montgomery County
Public Schools Dr. Hiawatha Fountain and Montgomery County Housing
Opportunities Commission Chairperson Barbara Goldberg-Goldman. The
announcement was made at Broad Acres Elementary School in Silver Spring, one
of the sites that will offer the new services.
"As we seek to build a better and stronger community, nothing could be
-more-
DUNCAN ANNOUNCES CHILDREN'S INITIATIVES 2-2-2-2
more important than finding ways to enhance the stability of families and the
academic performance of their children," said Praisner. " I am delighted to
see that Montgomery County will have additional resources with which to reach
out to children and families in need of service, especially for the Linkages
to Learning program which is a Council initiative."
Linkages to Learning
Maryland Lieutenant Governor Townsend announced that the County would
receive a $400,000 implementation grant for the County's Linkages to Learning
program, which will put health centers in public schools.
"Sick children can't learn. School-based health centers reach children
at a critical phase in their development," said Lieutenant Governor Kathleen
Kennedy Townsend. "Combined with the Governor's Thriving by Three initiative
which provides primary health care from pregnancy through age three, the
children at these schools will now be covered from pre-birth through the sixth
grade. Together, we are providing the foundation for healthy children."
The Department of Health and Human Services was awarded the four-year
grant to support two school-based health centers, Broad Acres (existing site
for the program) and Harmony Hills Elementary School in Aspen Hill. The grant
was awarded by the Governor’s Office on Children, Youth and Families'
"Maryland Making The Grade" initiative, which is funded by the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation.
Services at the school centers will enhance the existing Linkages to
Learning program and will supplement traditional school health services at
each site. Community Clinic, Inc. will staff each of the health centers with
-more-
DUNCAN ANNOUNCES CHILDREN'S INITIATIVES 3-3-3-3
a nurse practitioner and office manager. Services will include physical
exams, vision and hearing evaluations, immunizations, sports physicals, sick
care for acute short term illness, chronic disease management, laboratory and
pharmacy services and referral for specialty care. Medical services are
scheduled to begin at Broad Acres in June and at Harmony Hills in September.
Duncan also announced that Linkages to Learning, a collaborative program
between the Department of Health and Human Services, Montgomery County Public
Schools and private providers, will add three additional sites this year. The
new sites include Gaithersburg Middle School, Harmony Hills Elementary School
and Greencastle Elementary School.
The Linkages to Learning program, which was introduced into County
schools in 1991, currently serves 954 families. Each site develops services
based on the school's needs in partnership with the school, community and
private providers. Current sites for the program are Summit Hall Elementary,
Highland View Elementary, the Rocking Horse Center, Mark Twain School and
Broad Acres Elementary.
The University of Maryland has received a federal grant to conduct a
four-year study to examine the impact of bringing health, social and
educational support services into an elementary school.
Family Unification Program
The Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) was awarded a $1 million
grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to
support the Family Unification Program, a partnership between HOC and the
Department of Health and Human Services. The program focuses on helping -more-
DUNCAN ANNOUNCES CHILDREN'S INITIATIVES 4-4-4-4
children in foster care by providing subsidized housing to families being re-
unified after children have been placed in a foster care setting. There are
currently 520 Montgomery County children in foster care, and a lack house of
affordable housing has been found to be a major barrier to reunification in
many of the families. The grant will provide affordable housing to 50
families by offering Section 8 certificates.
"Housing is often the missing link for families who need the security of
a home to stabilize their lives," said HOC Chairwoman Barbara Goldberg-
Goldman. "Through this Family Unification Program partnership between HOC and
the County's Department of Health and Human Services, 50 families will be
reunited, or not face the prospect of dissolving, so that their children can
have a decent place to live."
Purchase of Child Care (POC)
For the first time since 1992, the County has received $419,000 in
additional funding from the State for the Purchase of Care (POC) program, part
of the Department of Health and Human Services. The POC assists working poor
families with child care costs. The additional funds will enable staff to
expand the program to 147 more children. Without the program, parents are
forced to leave their children in unsafe situations in order to work, or must
choose not to continue working, ending their efforts towards self-sufficiency.
Montgomery County is Maryland's most populous jurisdiction with a
population in excess of 810,000. Of that, approximately 200,000 are children
under the age of 18. By the year 2000, there will be more than 125,000
children enrolled in County schools. In 1994, there were 16,3999 children
-more-
DUNCAN ANNOUNCES CHILDREN'S INITIATIVES 5-5-5-5
receiving free or reduced price lunches; a total of 25 percent of all
elementary school students. An estimated 18,000 children under age 19 have no
private or public health insurance.
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