Welcome to the Maryland Child and
Adolescent Community Innovations Institute

The Maryland Child and Adolescent Innovations Institute, of the University of Maryland Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, was initiated in 2005 to assist the State of Maryland, the Children's Cabinet, the Governor's Office for Children (GOC), Maryland jurisdictions, and the State's child-serving agencies to support efforts in improving access, services and outcomes for families of children with intensive needs.  Innovations Institute receives funding from the Governor's Office for Children on behalf of the Children's Cabinet. Since 2005, Innovations Institute has provided statewide and jurisdictional technical assistance and training, developed Navigator training and Wraparound Practitioner Certification programs for care coordinators and family support partners. 

Innovations Institute has also initiated the Wraparound Fidelity Index to gather data and provide feedback to jurisdictions regarding high fidelity Wraparound implementation. Innovations Institute seeks to assist the State of Maryland and local jurisdictions with obtaining skills, interpreting new knowledge and adapting policy and practice to ensure that Maryland's children, youth, and families achieve wellness through family-driven, youth-guided, culturally and linguistically competent and individualized quality care within a system of care.

Innovations faculty and staff conduct research that is designed to enhance knowledge about effective implementation of systems of care and specifically wraparound. Innovations Institute seeks to assist the State of Maryland and local jurisdictions to interpret new knowledge and adapt policy and practice to ensure that Maryland is helping children, youth and families to achieve wellness through family-driven, youth-guided, culturally and linguistically competent and individualized quality of care within a system of care.

Vision

The Innovations Institute envisions a system in Maryland that helps children, youth and families to achieve wellness through family-driven, youth-guided, culturally and linguistically competent and individualized quality of care.

Mission

Innovations Institute, a technical assistance, training and evaluation center for children, youth and families in the state of Maryland, builds expertise that is innovative and transformative, so that every child, youth and family can achieve wellness and sustainability while shaping their own care and the state of Maryland's future.

Values

The Maryland public mental health system should be child centered and family focused, with the needs of the child and family dictating the types and mix of services provided.
The Maryland public mental health system should be community based, with the locus of services as management and decision-making responsibility resting at the community level.
The Maryland public mental health system should be culturally competent, with agencies, programs, and services that are responsive to the cultural, racial, and ethnic differences of the populations served.

Adapted from Building a System of Care (Pires, 2002)

Goals of Innovations Institute

• Foster knowledge on children’s mental health services in Maryland.
• Increase awareness among state and local mental health providers on the system of care model.
• Promote and provide resources for state mental health providers on effective evidence based practices in children’s mental health.
• Train mental health providers and policy makers on tools needed to address the mental health needs of Maryland’s children.
• Enhance community outreach and population-based research focusing on children’s mental health.
• Expand and promote the ability of UMB to foster and coordinate dissemination of information statewide on children’s mental health.
• Formalize the coordination of shared resource to promote children’s mental health research, community outreach and training activities.

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