Baltimore County Student Growth Outpaced Published Reports
Second-year executive function results, and a new grant to keep the work going
It was a school year full of meaningful growth for Baltimore County elementary students who participated in BrainFutures’ Youth Executive Function program. Students who began the year with the weakest executive function skills made the greatest progress. Among the students who started with an executive function deficit, scores improved by:
78% for working memory
55% for self-control
25% for attention
These skills support learning, behavior, and emotional well-being.
Among all students who completed the recommended 600 minutes of ACTIVATE™, the cognitive training we’re implementing, average gains reached as high as 22%.
Our Baltimore County students showed:
22% improvement in self-control
21% improvement in working memory
10% improvement in attention
Previously published reports of ACTIVATE™’s impact show average improvements of 10-15% in EF skills.
Parents Saw a Difference at Home and School
Parents also reported positive changes in daily life for children who participated in our program, with 79% saying their child’s school performance improved.
Families also noticed fewer homework struggles and stronger family connections.
Intentional executive function skill-building can support students across ages, grade levels, and learning styles. These results reinforce the value of making executive function development a consistent part of education.
We are grateful to the Baltimore County Bureau of Behavioral Health, the Maryland Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports, and the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission for another year of funding.
The momentum of new opportunities extends to our work on psychedelic therapy. The recent surge of coordinated federal action following the executive order in April has intensified the need to shape policy and prepare the workforce, care delivery systems, and access pathways so psychedelic treatments reach patients safely.
Sarah will join leaders in research and behavioral health for a webinar examining the evidence, policy, regulation, coverage, and reimbursement decisions shaping what happens next.
Hear from Sarah Norman, Executive Director, BrainFutures; Peter Hendricks, PhD, Heersink Endowed Chair in Psychiatry, The University of Alabama at Birmingham; Jon Kostas, CEO, Apollo Pact; and Caroline Carney, MD, MSc, CEO, Magellan Health (Moderator).
Sarah and Franciscka Lucien, Cliton Global Initiative
Clinton Global Initiative Roundtable
Sarah Norman also delivered closing remarks during the Clinton Global Initiative Roundtable on psychedelic-assisted therapy, hosted by the Office of System Catalyst and 1440 Foundation. The conversations focused on supporting states with evidence-based roadmaps, practical tools, and trusted partners.
We are excited to deepen this work with the addition of our new State Policy Technical Assistance Director, who will work alongside states and partners to turn evidence into action and expand access to innovative treatments for people who urgently need better options.
Building the Infrastructure for Psychedelic Care
SAMHSA convened a major interagency consultation to address the data gaps surrounding the growing use and misuse of psychedelics. BrainFutures Executive Director Sarah Norman moderated a panel on the workforce, training standards, quality measures, and data systems needed to support safe, scalable implementation.
She shared how BrainFutures and its partners are shaping the infrastructure with an interdisciplinary core competency workgroup and leading the field toward an update of our 2023 Professional Practice Guidelines.
BrainFutures is working with our partners to prepare for a September public hearing announced by the U.S. Department of Food and Drug Administration on the potential use of psychedelics.
We're also working to provide implementation guidance and respond to a Request for Information (RFI) issued by the Health Resources and Services Administration focused on workforce training, care delivery models, technology, and safe implementation of psychedelic therapy in community settings.
Research and Policy
Innovation depends on new evidence and the policies that move promising treatments toward safe, accessible care.
Senators Seek Clarity on Schedule I Research Guidance
Researchers studying Schedule I substances continue to face regulatory barriers that can slow scientific progress and delay the development of new treatments.
BrainFutures developed an FAQ earlier this year explaining what the HALT Fentanyl Act changes, what it does not change, and what still requires action from the DEA.
The HALT Fentanyl Act required the Department of Justice to establish a streamlined registration process by January 16, 2026. BrainFutures supports a letter from U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich, Bill Cassidy, and Angus King asking when the DOJ and DEA will comply with the law, publish the new process, and address duplicative requirements that continue to burden researchers.
“Executive functioning is huge for any student, but especially those young grades when they're learning to do multiple skills, multiple directions at one time. They're learning to mesh skills together. If they're struggling with that, they'll struggle throughout the day. I embed some of those executive function activities throughout the day. I felt it fit perfectly with math. There's a lot of numbers and patterns and reasoning, which fits in with executive functioning."
