Hogan announces $25M youth COVID-19 recovery project

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced a $25 million project on Thursday to help youths recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Project Bounce Back is a public-private partnership that includes initiatives to provide mental health services and expand youth development programs.

The Maryland Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs will expand to every county in Maryland. It will prioritize Title 1 school districts and rural communities to reach 45,000 children with youth development programs and mentorship.

The project also includes six regional mental health crisis teams through the Maryland Department of Education. Each team will include counselors, psychologists and experts to work with school systems to provide crisis and technical assistance.

Private sector partners, including Microsoft, LinkedIn Learning, KPMG, Discourse Analytics and eCare Vault, are providing a new technology platform to enable nonprofits, like Boys & Girls Clubs, to provide better services and job development skills to local youth.

Funding was made possible through the federal CARES Act.