This week CLPA highlights the Prince George’s County Health and Human Services (HHS), which comprises the Prince George’s County Department of Family Services, the Health Department, and the Department of Social Services.
Prince George’s County Department of Family Services
The Department of Family Services (DFS) works to improve the quality of life and overall well-being of Prince George’s County. They provide residents information, assistance, and referrals to services. They also promote and develop programs within the County that educate, empower, respect choice and preserve dignity. Assistance is provided to many of the County’s most vulnerable citizens such as seniors, children, victims of domestic violence, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and veterans.
DFS also oversees the Maryland Youth Advisory Council program, which allows youth to make their voice heard regarding public policies and programs that will affect them. Councilmembers provide testimony and policy recommendations to the General Assembly, State and County agencies, and the governor. Residents interested in the program can find applications for the Maryland Youth Advisory Council program on DFS’s website.
Prince George’s County Department of Social Services
The Department of Social Services provides intervention services that strengthen families, protect children and vulnerable adults, encourage self-sufficiency and promote personal responsibility. One of the ways to achieve this goal is through the Community Resource Advocate Program (CRA). The program places full-time Community Resource Advocates (CRAs) in 40 schools located in a Transforming Neighborhood Initiative (TNI) neighborhood identified by the County and PGCPS as needing additional support. Once a CRA determines the student and family's needs needing help, it directs them to services and support both inside and outside the Department.
The Child Protection Education Unit is another vital division of the Department of Social Services. Their primary focus is to train and educate adults in the County about child abuse. Since the initiative started in 2017, they have provided over 600 residents in Prince George’s County with Child Protection Education, including a curriculum on sex abuse. If you or anyone in your household needs to contact the Department of Social Services, you can find contact information at this link.
Prince George’s County Health Department
The County Health Department’s mission is to protect the public’s health, assure the availability of and access to quality health care services, and promote individual and community responsibility to prevent disease, injury, and disability. Its mission is carried out by its four departments. We will provide a deep dive on all four of these departments at a later date, but for now, here is a brief overview of their work:
Behavioral Health Division, which offers a variety of service and treatment options to promote the emotional and physical well-being of Prince George’s County residents.
Environmental Health Division which promotes and protects the safety of County residents through environmental regulation, inspections, public education, emergency preparedness, and disease control
The Family Health Services decision provides preventive, clinical, and outreach health services to Prince George’s County residents.
The Division of Health and Wellness is responsible for encouraging behavioral changes that will better the health and longevity of Prince George’s County residents.
The Prince George’s County Health Department also provides County updates and mitigation strategies for managing the COVID-19 pandemic. On the department website, you can find county news about the COVID pandemic, COVID-19 frequently asked questions, COVID case data, as well as vaccine and testing information. If you are on social media and would like to see daily County update’s on COVID-19, use and search hashtag #PGCCOVID19 on Twitter.