County Executive Ball initiated an integrated health and human services delivery system to support our vulnerable populations. He stays focused on providing facilities and services for our aging residents, improve healthcare opportunities, advance affordable housing, treat substance misuse and mental health issues.
- Enacted a comprehensive strategy for addressing the opioid epidemic
- Opened “Howard House” for treatment of men with substance use disorders
- Opening treatment center for women with substance use disorders
- Building a new, residential treatment center through a partnership with Delphi Behavioral Health Group, including $3 million over four years to form this first-of-its-kind partnership in the state between a local jurisdiction and a private treatment provider
- Announced a $1 million dollar grant from the State of Maryland to establish 24-hour crisis services at the Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center to fight the opioid epidemic
- Continuing proper emergency room referrals to peer recovery specialists
- Funding for behavioral health navigators at both the hospital and Health Department
- Continuing to support naloxone training and distribution across the county
- Enhanced a proactive alert system that targets specific opioid warnings to impacted communities, to prevent overdoses
- Suing big pharma companies in Circuit Court for their role in the opioid epidemic
- Howard County saw a 37% reduction from 2018 to 2019, and there was a 17% reduction in non-fatal opioid overdoes
- Launched, “It’s OK To Ask,” a youth suicide prevention plan
- Created “Practice Howard,” an innovative program designed to reduce a shortage of primary care physicians in Howard County
- Launched the “Live Where You Work” public-private partnership to provide rental subsidies for low- and moderate-income families to live near their workplace in Downtown Columbia
- Started the Housing Opportunity Master Plan process and created the Housing Opportunity Master Plan Task Force
- Supported a Prescription Drug Affordability Board that will review and establish fair and affordable drug costs for Marylanders
- Made Howard County an AARP “Age- Friendly Community”
- Hosted the first LGBTQ+ PRIDE Month celebration in Howard County history
- Won autism-friendly award for Sensory-Friendly Sundays at Robinson Nature Center
- $250,000 to The Sheppard Pratt Health System for construction of an outpatient medical, mental health, and substance use disorder services facility
- Solicited bids for healthy vending machines in Howard County government buildings and facilities
Click here to view our infographic for how we addressed concerns from our listening sessions in the first year in office.
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