Stephen T. Baron, LCSW-C, became the Director of the DC Department of Mental Health in July 2006.
Mr. Baron brings more than 30 years as a mental health practitioner and administrator to District government. Prior to taking this position, Mr. Baron was the president of Baltimore Mental Health Systems, Inc. (BMHS), the local mental health authority for Baltimore City for 17 years. In this role, Mr. Baron oversaw Baltimore’s public mental health system of more than 100 agencies that provide services to more than 32,000 individuals. Among his major accomplishments at BMHS, Mr. Baron played a significant leadership role in establishing a range of community-based psychiatric crisis programs, developed an innovative community-based capitation for adults who are either long-term residents of state psychiatric programs or have had multiple short-term hospitalizations, and implemented a process to monitor provider outcomes.
During Mr. Baron’s tenure at BMHS, the agency led several interagency collaborations. BMHS greatly expanded school-based and early childhood mental health and implemented a range of mental health/criminal justice activities such as the Behavioral Emergency Service Team (TEAM) with the Baltimore City Police Department and a recently developed mental health court. In addition, BMHS prioritized expanding affordable housing for individuals with mental illness through its subsidiary Community Housing Associates. Its newly established Mental Health Policy Institute for Leadership and Training implemented an innovative poverty and depression program at four community sites.
Prior to joining Mental Health Systems, Mr. Baron was the Executive Director of People Encouraging People (PEP) and the Coordinator of Aftercare Services at the Sinai Hospital Department of Psychiatry, in Baltimore. He worked closely with private citizens and Department of Psychiatry staff to develop PEP, a comprehensive community rehabilitation program for individuals for serious, persistent mental illness.
Mr. Baron’s management skills are enhanced by the eight years he spent in the field as a social worker and therapist for Family Services of Montgomery County, Maryland; the Northern Virginia Training Center for the Mentally Retarded; and the University of Maryland Methadone Treatment Program. In addition, Mr. Baron was an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County School of Social Work for several years.
Mr. Baron has received numerous awards and honors, including the Public Official Award from the Governor’s Homeless Relief Advisory Board. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Baltimore Homeless Services, Inc., Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, Inc., the Family League of Baltimore City and the Maryland Association of Non Profit Agencies.
Mr. Baron completed his Bachelor of Social Welfare at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, and his Master of Social Work at Howard University in Washington, DC.
