Advancing Maryland's "Information" Infrastructure
Information At Scale
Maryland’s Information Network is at the center of how people find help across the state, no matter where they live or what they need. By powering the statewide infrastructure that connects Marylanders, our network of help also provides leaders with real-time insights into needs by county, city, or ZIP code.
In FY 2025, demand surged, digital access accelerated, and the data revealed where Maryland’s needs are most urgent.
Shared Infrastructure In Action
When agencies use the same system, solutions scale. With data, digital tools, and 211 navigation, Maryland’s information infrastructure is enabling partners to address housing instability, behavioral health needs, and aging needs with greater precision and speed by reducing duplication of efforts and driving coordinated solutions to real, statewide challenges.
Strengthening the Infrastructure
As more agencies and residents rely on Maryland’s shared information infrastructure, the need to sustain and strengthen it becomes a collective responsibility. This is the moment to partner, aligning investments to expand reach, resilience, and impact.
Continued investment will ensure Maryland's information systems can scale with demand, adapt to emerging needs, and supporet those who rely on it every day.
Maryland's Network At Scale
Maryland Information Network runs the state's health and human services information infrastructure, the backbone behind 211, 988 resource navigation, and real-time data on more than 7,400 programs.
In FY 2025, Marylanders turned to this network more than ever:
- 32% growth in overall connections since FY 2024
- 4x more people used web, text, and other digital tools than called the helpline
- 2 out of 3 referrals were for housing, behavioral health, or utility assistance - Maryland's most pressing need
When Marylanders need help, we've got their back!
188,260
Housing Referrals
256,342
Mental Health/Substance Use Referrals
190,000+
MdReady Emergency Text Subscribers
119,468
Utility Assistance Referrals
Our Call Center Network
Powered by our 211 Call Center Network, every call is answered with local expertise, backed by statewide data, and digital tools.
This unified network means residents get accurate help and state leaders see emerging needs in real time.
Shared Infrastructure in Action
With shared infrastructure, we see the impact in real time, in real lives. Maryland Information Network powers unified data across the ecosystem, shared pathways to help, and digital tools that multiple agencies and initiatives can use to solve specific needs faster, together, and at scale.
"The patient, she was a 17-year old adolescent, who had been in the emergency department for over 100 days. You tell she wanted to go home. The mom was very receptive to the resources provided. She wanted her child home as well, but just needed the adequate resources and support."
-Kia Greene, Care Coordinator
Learn about programs that support:
- Patient Care Coordination for Emergency Departments
- Crisis & Emergency Pathways
- Aging, Families, and Children
- Reentry & Justice
- Statewide Resource Data Utility & Innovation
Emergency Department Care Coordination
This program, often called 211 Press 4 Care Coordination, plays a critical role in helping individuals with behavioral health needs avoid a hospital overstay and reduces readmissions by connecting them to community-based care.
Better systems, better support
We introduced ConnectCare to track referrals in real time, improve follow-up, and ensure no one falls through the cracks. It helps patients get connected to care faster, reducing delays and providing data to inform future system-wide improvements.
Real progress, real impact
This program is positioned to expand its impact in the year ahead with better data, clearer processes, and deeper partnerships to reduce administrative burdens and costs for hospitals and to support Marylanders during critical moments of need.
Hospital Transition Program (HTP)
This one-year pilot program led to $1.5+ million in net savings by reducing preventable readmissions, a 22:1 return on investment. HTP eased financial pressure on hospitals facing readmission penalties and lowered costs for payers.
The program focused on hospital readmissions among Medicaid- and Medicare-eligible older adults and adults with disabilities, reducing their readmissions by 23% in just one month.
Care coordinators provided hands-on support, including:
- paperwork and insurance navigation
- state waiver enrollment
- providing access to medical supplies and in-home services
When high-need, high-cost populations receive the right support at the right time, both health outcomes and cost savings improve.
What's Needed Next
Sustained engagement is critical to maximizing impact. Utilization and costs rose 120 days post-discharge, after the support ended. Together, we can enhance dignity, independence, and change lives through innovative programs like care coordination.
HTP Changed Lives
Secured long-delayed approvals for the state waiver program
Improved emotional well-being
Provided patients access to therapeutic services
Crisis & Emergency Pathways
In moments of crisis, seconds count. Quick connections to trusted, reliable information help Marylanders get the right information when they need it most.
"In an emergency, clear and fast communication can make all the difference, and this upgrade will help save lives, improve safety across the state, and help ensure we leave no one behind.”
-Russell J. Strickland, secretary of MDEM
Through shared technology, we're building a system that can respond to:
- public health and weather emergencies (MdReady)
- mental health crises (988)
- behavioral health needs to prevent suicide (211 Health Check)
Learn about these programs.
MdReady Text Alerts
This program provided statewide multilingual emergency text alerts to over 190,000 subscribers. Crucial information during local emergencies, extreme weather, and flood warnings was delivered faster and more personally, allowing users to choose their location(s) and language for receiving emergency alerts.
With 185 languages available, the inclusive and accessible upgrades made Maryland the first state to offer this many individual language preferences in an emergency alert system.
Due to federal funding cuts, the program ended in June 2025. This underscores the importance of sustained investments in 211 and emergency communication infrastructure to maintain and expand this proven, high-impact capability.
988 Support
The 988 website connects Marylanders in crisis to community resources. A major upgrade expanded equitable access to crisis intervention, substance use treatment, and harm reduction resources across the state.
This initiative strengthened Maryland's behavioral health network and improved coordination of care, making it easier and faster for those in crisis to find support, reducing service gaps, improving response times, and positively impacting lives.
Also, we're gaining valuable insights to guide the state's behavioral health strategy.
211 Health Check
This was the first and only statewide proactive, weekly mental health check-in program to support Marylanders as part of the state's behavioral health system. 211 Health Check offered supportive check-in calls, offering early intervention for individuals experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, or isolation.
Preventing Suicide
The weekly checkpoints stabilized vulnerable populations before crises escalated, and complemented existing crisis response services like 988.
Utilization grew 22% in the final year, demonstrating strong demand and impact.
More than 68,462 supportive check-in calls were made, reducing pressure on crisis systems through early stabilization.
Proactive behavioral health engagement can reduce costs, prevent crises, and align with Maryland's long-term behavioral health system goals.
Sustaining Support Through Change
Despite its success over the last four years, federal cuts accelerated the wind-down of the program. A structured transition strategy ensured that participants remain connected to alternative supports through 988 and other state resources.
Aging, Families, and Children
Whether it's an older adult navigating care, a new parent seeking support, or a grandparent stepping into a caregiving role, the hardest part is knowing where to start.
Maryland Information Network provides shared information through:
- Maryland's No Wrong Door
- Maryland Essentials for Children
- Maternal and Child Health
- Kinship Care
This shared information strengthens access, making it easier to find trusted information.
Maryland's No Wrong Door
We enhanced how older adults and adults with disabilities connect to services across the state by advancing the No Wrong Door initiative in partnership with the Maryland Department of Aging.
The program:
- Expanded the MAP database by adding resources from local AAAs.
- Strengthened engagement with the Local Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) through engagement sessions and community resource coordination.
- Optimized the MAP Help Line by improving the reporting structure and data accessibility through the development of a data dashboard.
These foundational steps will help lay the groundwork for more streamlined service coordination and improved statewide data visibility.
Maryland Essentials for Children
Our nonprofit played a central role in coordinating outreach, capacity-building, and increasing accessibility of resources that can help children thrive.
The project supported families, caregivers, communities, organizations, and state employees with training, tools, strategies, and resources that were grounded in brain science, resilience, and trauma-informed best practices. It helped advance the state's efforts to foster safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments for children.
Trauma-Informed Training
The initiative also expanded and strengthened our long-standing partnership with the Maryland Department of Health. We coordinated trauma-informed training for state leaders, held a community forum on resilience, and aligned new stakeholders, including Local Management Boards and Local Care Teams, bringing the training and tools to them and engaging them in continued conversation about building resilience in communities throughout Maryland.
Building Resilience
We raised awareness of the enhanced Maryland Essentials for Childhood website, highlighted its Brain-Building Toolkit and resilience infographics, and connected organizations and families to community resources powered by the 211 Community Resource Database.
Maternal and Child Health
We expanded the statewide database to better reflect the full continuum of services supporting mothers, infants, and families. Our resource data curation team ensured every resource is accurate, comprehensive, and properly categorized to ensure search functionality and referral efficiency when MCH's customized resource database launches in FY 2026.
We also added new resources to strengthen early intervention networks, expand access to food banks and family support services, connect families to community clinics, and care coordination programs.
These resources will help advance better health outcomes and stronger starts for children statewide.
Kinship Care
We turned data into action for kinship families, helping stabilize family-based care and improving outcomes for children.
By identifying service trends and resource gaps, we were able to provide more targeted support and outreach to connect kinship caregivers more quickly to financial, legal, and emotional support resources.
These interventions increased program visibility and strengthened pathways to family stability and long-term resilience.
Reentry & Justice
Housing. Employment. Legal support. These are all essential needs for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals and their families.
We developed and integrated the first-of-its-kind statewide resource reentry database into our existing Community Resource Database, in partnership with the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. An informational text-support line was also created to directly connect this population with ongoing resources and support.
The shared infrastructure makes it easier to turn a second chance into a stable future.
Statewide Resource Data Utility & Innovation
With 7,168 programs in our Community Resource Database, this valuable, statewide asset is a living resource dataset that's organized and structured so it can be used across initiatives. As a data utility, we turn fragmented, constantly changing program information into a shared, trusted resource database. "Helpful listings" are turned into a shared, trusted sources of information that agencies, partners, policymakers, and Marylanders can use to connect Maryland!
Legislative Dashboards
With so many pathways to help, and shared infrastructure across state and local agencies, we can connect the dots between what residents need, what services exist, and where gaps persist. This data is available in real-time, driving clear, decision-ready insights and accountability across jurisdictions.
Let's Work Together to Strengthen the Infrastructure
Maryland has already built a statewide infrastructure that connects residents to help and gives leaders real-time insight into what communities need. To keep pace with rising demand and fully deliver on a digital-first promise, this infrastructure now needs stable, long-term investment and deeper integration across state systems.
Our Priorities
Self-Service Triage, Everywhere
Digital assessments and accessible navigation tools so Marylanders can quickly assess their needs and get matched to the right services—anytime, in every county.
Hyperlocal Access to Help
Extend 211 beyond the phone by embedding information access and self-service tools in everyday community settings—libraries, hospitals, grocery stores, schools, and other trusted public spaces—so Marylanders can find help where needs arise, not only when a call is placed.
Interoperable by Design
Align technical architecture and reporting standards so new and existing agency platforms plug into shared infrastructure rather than building duplicative systems.
Outcome Tracking That Closes the Loop
Expand referral outcome tracking with hospitals, health plans, and agencies so funders and public leaders can see what happens after a referral, identify which investments produce real results, and direct resources toward approaches that improve population health.