Local Care Teams are designed to support individuals and/or families in accessing services and other community supports, particularly those who present with complex issues not easily addressed by one agency or service provider. Each team meets one to two times each month depending on the number of referrals received.

Anne Arundel County has five teams, four of which are operated by the LMB serving different, unique target populations:

• Community Resource Initiative/Care Team (CRICT) - Core team that serves families with school-aged children
• Early Childhood CRICT - Team serving families with children birth to 5 that have developmental disabilities or delays, or a complex healthcare need
• BRICKET - Bricks and Mortar CRICT team serving homeless families
• VS CARES Team - Victims Services CRICT for victims of domestic violence, human trafficking and/or sex trafficking

The fifth team is Silver CRICT for our aging population. The Partnership serves as a member but the team is operated by our local Department of Aging & Disabilities.

The Partnership involves youth in much of our programming design and strategic planning but youth participation in the LCT is different, and necessarily so. Youth participation in the LCT process is very dependent on several variables: core issue of the youth or family participating in the LCT, youth's age, other family issues or dynamics, youth's availability. When possible and appropriate, youth are invited to sit in and participate in the meeting with their families. Hearing their perspective on what is happening at home and how it is impacting them can be very useful in ensuring the Action Plan incorporates elements that address family needs in a more holistic manner. However, if the primary issue that brings a family to the LCT is related to behaviors/incidents/issues with a particular child or child dynamics within the family (criminal actions, mental health crises, abuse, etc.) then having the youth participate directly can be counterproductive, and even potentially damaging to the youth. The other consideration is timing. Sometimes meetings need to be held while the child is in school. It is rarely more beneficial to the youth to participate in the meeting rather than attend school and so their school attendance takes precedence.