Around Maryland

Maryland got a ton of new providers of mental health and addiction services in recent years, and state health officials are not so sure they are all on the up-and-up. The Maryland Department of Health said Friday it would not approve any new licenses for some types of providers for the next six months as they assess what is happening.

As Frederick County begins to enter a drought, farmers are worried about the consequences of going through another drought for the second year in a row — one with notably higher temperatures earlier on in the season compared to last year. As of Tuesday, about 68% of Frederick County is experiencing a moderate drought, and the other 32% is abnormally dry, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

When Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright started her last position as Mississippi State Superintendent of Education in 2013, the native Marylander learned a new expression said in the South. “‘Thank God for Mississippi,’” Wright recalled learning, relaying the why behind the phrase she was told by some in the Magnolia State, during a presentation earlier this year.

When Victoria Gray and her husband took in their grandchild in 1993, there wasn’t a catchall term to explain the difficult task ahead. They just did the work. But in the past decade, Gray, of Phoenix, has watched as states have worked steadily to recognize the roles of grandparents and other extended loved ones, now known collectively as kinship caregivers, in raising children who otherwise might be in foster care.

Agriculture and stormwater runoff from developed land — key reasons the Chesapeake Bay is not on target to meet 2025 cleanup goals — will continue to limit pollution reduction efforts until federal and state agencies come up with new approaches to tackle these longstanding problems. That’s according to a recently published paper in the Environmental Law Reporter, which also warns that climate change makes cleanup efforts harder as increased rainfall and floods overwhelm stormwater systems and supercharge runoff pollution.

Education was a top priority for Gov. Wes Moore during this year’s Maryland General Assembly session as he repeatedly called for the state’s need to have a “world-class education system.” Moore inherited the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan, and despite it being a major driver in the state’s projected deficit, lawmakers didn’t make any sweeping changes to the plan.

Halfway through her 12-week maternity leave last summer, Sarah Haddaway didn’t expect the trouble that would accompany her search for child care. After unexpected rejections from one fully booked child care facility after another, the lifelong resident of Maryland’s western panhandle began calling every provider she could find.