More mental health support is on its way to the City of Laurel after its Department of Health and Human Services brought on a new specialist to bolster services for youth and families.
Laurel’s youth and family service bureau, Helping Hands, had been without a clinical supervisor since May 2024, according to Marchelle LeBlanc, who leads the Department of Health and Human Services.
During that time, the bureau went dormant. Helping Hands was revamped in 2025 when LeBlanc hired Dana Hubbard, Ph.D., as the program’s new full-time clinical supervisor.
“[Hubbard] brings a strong clinical leadership background experience, and she has a deep commitment to youth and family well-being,” LeBlanc said. “Since she’s been on board, the program has been revitalized.”
Hubbard, a 10-year Laurel resident, has worked in mental health care throughout her career, serving a wide range of patients. After earning her master’s degree in social work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, Hubbard entered the United States Air Force for four years, including two years as chief of mental health for a South Dakota air force base. Before joining Helping Hands, she worked with military veterans in Prince George’s County and ran her own practice.
Through Helping Hands, the bureau provides counseling services, referrals and support for youth, families, and adults. Hubbard said she will advise city leadership on how mental health connects to public policy, schools, public safety and economic issues, with a focus on at-risk youth.
“I’m here to protect the underserved, those who do not have voices, and to empower and amplify those voices,” Hubbard said.
One of Hubbard’s goals for Helping Hands is to connect Laurel youth with service opportunities, including assembling care packages and supplies for unhoused people who spend time outside the Laurel Multi-Service Center, where the Department of Human Services is based.
“I’m starting to come up with some innovative things we can do for that specific population,” Hubbard said.
Hubbard’s efforts to revive the service bureau come as public mental health services continue to shrink throughout the region. Since 2019, the number of youth service bureaus in Maryland has dwindled from 19 to five, according to the Maryland Association of Youth Service Bureaus.
The reduction has not gone unnoticed. Hubbard has joined bureau directors across Prince George’s County in working with state legislators to advocate for the Youth Delinquency Prevention Fund bill, which is currently being considered by the Maryland General Assembly. The bill would provide grants to community organizations that serve children and families in crisis.
“Mental health is not a separate, individualistic issue,” Hubbard said. “It affects public policy … public safety and engagement, which translates to workforce … it’s a necessity.”
LeBlanc said the city supports the bill, adding it would help fund Helping Hands.
“Hubbard and her efforts will just build a healthier community, a more resilient community and especially for our next generation,” LeBlanc said.