January 2025 | Issue 50



The Anne Arundel County Local Behavioral Health Authority or LBHA is a

partnership between the Anne Arundel County Department of Health

and the Anne Arundel County Mental Health Agency, Inc.

If you are interested in subscribing to the Anne Arundel County LBHA

Provider Announcement Listserv, please email your request to

aac-lbha-connect@aacounty.org

This is the second year in which January will be recognized as Substance Use Disorder Treatment Month. According to SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, over 48 million people 12 or older had a substance use disorder (SUD) in the past year; almost 28 million had an alcohol use disorder (AUD); and just over 28 million had a drug use disorder (DUD). Almost 8 million people had both an AUD and a DUD. The data also show that, among people 12 or older in 2024 who were classified as needing substance use treatment in the past year, only about 1 in 5 (19.3% or 10.2 million people) received treatment.

This month's designation is intended to support people seeking treatment or considering treatment, their providers, and their friends and loved ones. The goal is to reduce stigma that prevents people from seeking treatment, promote best practices among providers such as screenings and interventions, provide encouragement, and breakdown barriers to care. Check out SAMHSA's Substance Use Disorder Treatment Month toolkit for more information.



For the new year, many of us like to make resolutions, including those that help our mental health, including getting more sleep, practicing self compassion, . To help stick to resolutions, consider these tips from the American Psychological Association and remember that small achievable goals spread throughout the year will be easier to stick to than larger goals or trying to achieve them all at once.

If you are in crisis and need help, call 988 and our Warmline is open 24/7

at 410-768-5522.

The Anne Arundel County Department of Health is proud to announce that they will host the 3rd Annual Help Healing and Hope Summit, Embracing Experiences That Center Communities, on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, at Anne Arundel Community College. This day-long, event, featuring workshops, networking, and is dedicated to discussing suicide prevention strategies and practices and to collaborating with partners across Maryland to promote hope and connection.

They are also accepting nominations for the 2nd Annual Impact of Hope Awards. This award celebrates individuals, organizations or communities whose efforts have created significant positive change by promoting mental well-being and using hope as a transformative force for good. It seeks to acknowledge the power of hope in overcoming adversity, fostering healing and building stronger, more supportive environments where individuals and communities can thrive.

Nominations will remain open until Friday, February 27th and recipients will be recognized at the Help, Healing and Hope Summit on Wednesday, June 24.

NAMI Anne Arundel will be hosting their next weekly sessions of Family-to-Family: Wednesday, January 21st-Wednesday, March 11th, 2026

6:30 PM-9:00 PM ET

at the Nonprofit Center in Crownsville

NAMI Family-to-Family is a free, 8-session educational program for family, significant others and friends of people with mental health conditions. 

NAMI Family-to-Family is taught by NAMI-trained family members who have been there, and includes presentations, discussions and interactive exercises.

The group setting of NAMI Family-to-Family provides mutual support and shared positive impact—experience compassion and reinforcement from people who understand your situation. Sharing your own experience may help others.

NAMI Anne Arundel will also be holding Family to Family Sessions in

West River beginning on Tuesday, January 27th.

There is no cost to attend, but registration is required.

For more information or to register, email F2F@namiaac.org

The Anne Arundel County Behavioral Health Advisory Council

Next Virtual Meeting: January 20th

Established in 1999, members of the Behavioral Health Advisory Council (BHAC) include key stakeholders across the system committed to the utilization of the CCISC model and ensuring that Anne Arundel County provides an accessible, comprehensive behavioral health system for all residents.

 Participants on the council are co-chairs from Anne Arundel County Department of Health and Anne Arundel County Mental Health Agency, mental-health

and substance-use providers, hospital representatives, community members, cultural-organization representatives, and more. 

Their goal is to improve the mental wellness of all Anne Arundel County residents and assure access to needed services. Providers and referring agencies are empowered to successfully identify, refer and treat individuals with any Behavioral Health challenge. They provide input, direction, and influence on

behavioral health action planning in the county.

Meetings are held via Zoom.

All Anne Arundel County residents are welcome to attend,

however registration is required.

Next meeting: Tuesday, January 20th, 9:00 AM-10:30 AM ET

Download the Meeting Registration Link

With long waitlists and overwhelmed practices, families often can’t access mental health care when they need it most. In this session, you’ll learn how the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) solves that gap by bringing coordinated, evidence-based behavioral health directly into primary care—improving outcomes for kids and easing the burden on providers.

Join Childrens Mental Health Matters! for this free webinar featuring speakers from Triplemoon, a virtual, integrated behavioral health platform designed to make expert mental health care easier for families to access.

Thursday, January 15th, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM ET

Each year, the Children’s Mental Health Matters Campaign features an annual poster contest. The winning artwork will be featured on the 2026 Children’s Mental Health Matters Campaign poster, reaching audiences statewide.

This year, the poster contest theme is No Judgment, Just Help, in partnership with the Maryland Department of Health and the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. 988 is a vital resource for families and youth to get support when someone is struggling with problems like stress, depression, and anxiety.

All Maryland students up to the age of 18 are invited to participate.

The contest deadline is February 6, 2026

1/11 Webinar: Clinical Integrity and Connection: Ethical Practice in a Polarized World

1/13-1/15 Fifth Annual CE You! Virtual Conference

1/16 Webinars: Ethics and Artificial Intelligence in Therapy: Threat or Powerful Problem-Solver? And Trauma-Informed Approach to Moving Beyond Cultural Competence to Cultural Intelligence (Can Register for One or Both Webinars)

1/20 Webinar: Motivational Enhancement Therapy/ Cognitive Behavioral Therapy 5 (MET/CBT5)

1/22 Webinar: Screening, Brief Intervention, & Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) With Adolescents

1/22-1/23 Virtual Clinical Supervision Summit: New Tools and Innovative Approaches to Inspire, Mentor, and Lead with Impact

1/23 In Person Conference: The Science of Brain Wellness-Is Cognitive Decline Preventable? (Columbia)

1/27 Webinar:The Full Picture-Gender’s Role in Modern Mental Health Treatment

1/28 Webinar: Consent and Confidentiality Issues in Adolescent Care

1/29 Webinar: Historical Trauma, Social Justice, Ethics and Cultural Competence Webinar Series

1/6 Workshop: Visioning Through the Valleys-A Vision Board Experience for the Grieving Heart (Pasadena)

1/9 Virtual Opioid Overdose Response Training from the Prevention Coalition of Anne Arundel County

1/12 Anne Arundel County Department of Aging and Disabilities Virtual Caregiver Support Group

1/13 Arundel County Department of Health Suicide Prevention Program Virtual LGBTQ+ Youth Ally Training

1/13 Online Event: Nothing Selfish About Self-Love- Using Radical Self-Love to Combat Race-Based Trauma

1/14 Virtual Opioid Overdose Response Training from the Prevention Coalition of Anne Arundel County

1/14 Anne Arundel County Department of Aging and Disabilities Caregiver Support Group (Glen Burnie)

1/14 University of Maryland BWMC Support Group (Glen Burnie)

1/17 Workshop for Bereaved Children and Teens: Branches of the Heart-Remembering Loved Ones Through Nature (Pasadena)

1/20 Anne Arundel County Department of Aging and Disabilities Caregiver Support Group (Annapolis)

1/26 Anne Arundel County Health Equity Forum (Virtual)

1/26 Presentation from the Maryland Department of Aging: One is the Loneliest Number (Severna Park Library)

1/27 Naloxone-Narcan Opioid Overdose Response Training (Edgewater Library)

1/27 Virtual Opioid Overdose Response Training from Prevention Coalition of Anne Arundel County (Choose from 10:00 AM or 2:00 PM)

1/28 Our Neighborhood, Our Future Listening Session at Robinwood Community Center (Annapolis)