Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health

School-based clinics are located in elementary, middle and one high school in the Howard County Public School System. They are made possible through a partnership between the Howard County Health Department and Howard County Public School System. The goal of the program is to keep kids in school, healthy and ready to learn.

The Howard County Infants and Toddlers Program (HCITP) serves children from birth to three years of age who have a developmental delay or who are at risk for developmental delay.

All children should receive blood lead screening during routine well-child visits to their providers at 12 and 24 months old. Elevated blood lead levels are reported to the Maryland Department of the Environment, who then notifies the child’s local Health Department. 

WIC is a federally funded program that provides healthy foods and nutrition counseling for pregnant women, new mothers, infants and children under age five.

The goal of the Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention program is to lower the number of injury related deaths and disability for children in Howard County. This is done by looking at the causes of intentional and unintentional injuries in children and starting prevention programs.

The Maryland Child Fatality Review Team is a state-mandated body that was established in Maryland by Senate Bill 464 in 1999. Local teams were established across the state and each must read and implement Maryland code as established in the law. 

The mission of Fetal & Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) is to improve the health of pregnant women and their infants by reviewing and identifying systemic problems, and making recommendations for change.

In Howard County, from 2014-2018, suicide was the number one cause of death for teens age 15-19. The Health Department developed an evidence-based Youth Suicide Prevention Plan to address the many components of the issue.

TeenHealthMatters is a Howard County Health Department project, that connects teens & parents to resources to stay safe, happy and healthy. The website TeenHealthMatters.org is aimed at teens and the role they can play in their own health decisions. It brings information and resources to teens about whole health, body and mind. Topics incorporated into the site include: Stress, Feeling Down, Nutrition & Well-being, Sex, Sexuality & Safe Relationships, Drugs & Alcohol, and Parents & Teens.

I Want The Kit (IWTK) - Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) testing kit available free of charge at all HCPSS High Schools. In Howard County, the number of cases of both chlamydia and gonorrhea have nearly doubled in teens ages 15 and up. One in every two sexually-active young people will contract a sexually transmitted infection (STI) before age 25, and many are not even aware they are infected or of the significant risks to their health.

In response, HCHD and HCPSS launched a campaign to inform high school students about the risks of STIs and offer free, confidential screening tests and access to treatment. This initiative, “I Want the Kit” (IWTK), is co-sponsored and funded by a grant from the Maryland Department of Health (MDH).

STI testing kits will be available to students free of charge in the nurse’s office in every high school, ARL, and the Homewood Center. Students requesting the test kit and receiving test results will remain confidential. Test results will be shared only with the student, and if positive, with the Howard County Health Department. The information will not be reported to HCPSS, the student’s parents, or any other person or organization.