Advocating for Children and Youth

Pat Salomon, MD, represented the Trachtenberg Office at a forum held on May 5, 2010 by Maryland’s Advocates for Children and Youth. At the forum, Uma Ahluwalia, the Director of Montgomery County’s Department of Health and Human Services showcased a system under development, called NO WRONG DOOR. Under this plan, Montgomery County DHHS is providing holistic care to our families in crisis. At the time a family presents for any type of help, a 14 point assessment is made to define what range of services are needed for this individual and their family. A plan is then made to access all the services needed. Multiple appointments are generated, the most urgent first, but with follow-through for all the necessary services. Then the entire team of providers continues to interact until the family is out of crisis and sustaining itself. Making all the services systems interoperable, and linking them technologically is a tall order, especially in the midst of a budget crisis, but the County’s DHHS is providing unique leadership across the country, to develop a coordinated response to families in crisis.