Who We Are
In early 2003, Baltimore Mental Health Systems, Inc, the local mental health authority for Baltimore City, convened a number of leaders in the academic community to address the issues related to workforce development in community behavioral health , at all levels and across disciplines, and the gap between research findings, policy and practice. Out of these discussions, a non-profit corporation, named the Behavioral Health Leadership Institute (BHLI) was formed. The Board of Directors is comprised of members from several academic institutions in the field as well as individuals who are active in the fields of community mental health or substance use disorders. Disciplines represented include physicians, nurse practitioners, law, social work and public health. The Institute concept is a unique approach to improving the quality of care. It offers a model that integrates service delivery, research, work force development, education and public policy with program implementation.
Out of the Blocks, heard on WYPR and hosted by Aaron Henkin, talk with staff of the PCARE Van and visit with clients. Read more
Out of the Blocks, heard on WYPR and hosted by Aaron Henkin, talk with staff of the PCARE Van and visit with clients. Read more
Current NewsVan parked outside of Baltimore jail offers drug treatment
The BHLI (Behavioral Health Leadership Institute) mobile staff van parks regularly outside Baltimore Central Booking & Intake Center in an effort to help people with addiction receive treatment. (Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun video)
By Meredith Cohn and Andrea K. McDaniels Contact Reporters The Baltimore Sun | January 3, 2018, 6:00 AM Homeless, occasionally incarcerated and about 24 hours after his last hit of heroin, Norman Jones walked into the big white van parked just steps from the door to Baltimore City’s jail looking for an exit from his way of life. “Enough is enough,” said the 56-year-old Jones as he waited for a prescription for buprenorphine to ease withdrawal and long-term cravings. The van, a mobile treatment facility launched two months ago, lures people leaving the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center with a sign advertising its services. It is the city’s latest and perhaps most in-your-face option for people who circulate in and out of jail and prison, often for addiction-related crimes, but receive no treatment on the inside. Even though the opioid overdose crisis spurred Gov. Larry Hogan to declare a state of emergency in Maryland, dedicating more funding for treatment, the jail population remains largely overlooked, advocates say. About 65 to 70 percent of those who are arrested and jailed in Baltimore have a substance-use problem, from alcohol to heroin. Read entire article A deadly decision: Pharmacists are afraid to stock opioid use disorder medication | Guest Commentary
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Taking the opioid treatment to the streets.The work of the PCARE van was recently featured by AJ+. View the video which showcases how our PCARE van is helping to make opioid treatment accessible to people suffering from addiction in Baltimore.
View video The opioid epidemic is increasingly killing black Americans. Baltimore is ground zero.
The latest disaster in Baltimore’s deadly and worsening opioid epidemic was a small one: The addiction treatment van, now 13 years old, wouldn’t start.
Read more Project Connections at Community Re-entryBHLI is thrilled to announce that we have received funding from local foundations to create a new pilot project to serve inmates at discharge from Pre-Trial Detention. Read more
Opioid Crisis ContinuesOpioid crisis continues unabated in Maryland and elsewhere. Here's a plan of action.
Baltimore Sun Op-Ed by Deborah Agus, February 8, 2019 Read more Mobile outreach van helps treat drug misusers
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