Last year, the Baltimore Sun ran an editorial urging the state to provide "multi-systemic therapy" - an intensive, relatively short-term set of home-based counseling services and family and school interventions that help keep young people with mental health issues from entering or returning to the juvenile system. Where did the Sun draw its inspiration? From a report published by the Maryland Disability Law Center (MDLC) with funding from the Jacob & Hilda Blaustein Foundation and the Aaron Straus & Lillie Straus Foundation.
Supported by several local foundations and through federal funding, MDLC has a broad mandate to defend and advance the civil rights of people with disabilities in Maryland and provide legal advocacy services. The group fills a crucial niche by fighting for the rights of vulnerable citizens-many of whom can't afford traditional lawyers-on issues related to service access and equity for people with disabilities.
Blaustein and Straus support MDLC's efforts to move the state towards covering multi-systemic therapy, a nationwide model for treating youth with serious behavioral problems. This therapy is more cost effective than juvenile detention facilities, especially because it is Medicaid-eligible, and is proven to reduce recidivism.
Another project funded by Blaustein and the Leonard & Helen R. Stulman Charitable Foundation involves improving the way emergency rooms serve adults having a mental health crisis. The funds helped MDLC conduct extensive research in three area hospitals and produce a report scheduled for release soon to guide hospitals in instituting more appropriate practices.
MDLC provides guidance, referrals, representation, investigation, education, and training on a wide range of topics and problems - from filing a class action lawsuit to improve transportation services for people with disabilities to helping people with disabilities move out of nursing homes and assisting parents of special education students in accessing services.
"Because our federal funds have gone down and our operating costs have gone up, we wouldn't be able to tackle all these projects without the foundations' help," notes Virginia Knowlton, executive director of the Maryland Disability Law Center.
