Health director to localize Healthy Families program; Bay Restoration guidance expands eligible uses

Robin Cahall, Caroline County health officer, told commissioners the county will transition to a locally housed Healthy Families program on July 1, moving away from the previous regional model. Holly Trace, director of nursing, said the program will follow an evidence‑based Healthy Families America model, initially staff two trained home visitors (one bilingual), and enroll pregnant women and families with children through age 3, with the option to extend services to age 5.

Trace said the program targets teen parents, low‑income families, families with a history of child welfare involvement or substance‑use treatment, families with children who have developmental delays, and military families; the service is free to enrolled families. The department secured a small MCV grant in January 2026 for supervisor training and program development, and Healthy Families America accepted the county's affiliation in February 2026. Officials said full accreditation requires four consecutive years of operation and that the department will pursue fidelity assessment in 2027.

Cahall also briefed commissioners on FY27 Bay Restoration Fund guidance received the prior week. She said the guidance expands eligible uses to include operation and maintenance assistance for best available technology (BAT) for eligible homeowners for up to five years (up to 50%), allows septic tank pump‑outs at a limited share (~10% of an award up to ~$40,000), and broadens drain‑line funding eligibility to moderate‑income homeowners. The guidance also introduced a condition that eligible homes must have an occupancy permit and septic systems installed within 15 years prior to July 1 of the application year, changes that will require local staff to review impacts on program priorities and applicant eligibility.

On funding, Cahall said statewide BRF rounds totaled roughly $6 million with additional BAT allocations; she told commissioners Caroline County's BRF septic grant award was about $21,500 per round for FY26 and noted two rounds per fiscal year. Commissioners asked about fee collections and eligible households; staff said the county collects a $60 Bay Restoration fee for properties on septic (town sewer collections are handled by municipalities) and that county collections in 2025 were approximately $524,000 turned over to the state.

Department modernization updates included moving to electronic purchasing, consolidated commercial billing credentialing that allows billing most payers, vehicle replacements, PolicyStat implementation for policy repositories, and advancement on mobile integrated health and behavioral health initiatives. Cahall said the department is awaiting a notice of award for some mobile services funding and is pursuing rural health transformation funding to increase operational efficiency and billing capability.

Next steps: staff will continue program setup and fidelity assessments for Healthy Families, dig into BRF guidance for implementation details and eligibility impacts, and pursue grant opportunities for mobile health and related programs.