​COMAR 10.63 Regulatory Revisions

​The Maryland Department of Health's Behavioral Health Administration is working to make regulatory updates to the COMAR 10.63 Community-Based Behavioral Health Programs and Services Regulations. MDH is committed to continuing to engage with stakeholders regarding these critical regulations. ​This webpage will be updated periodically with additional updates. 

Informal Feedback Announcement

The Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) is proposing a revision of COMAR 10.63.01 - 10.63.09 with new chapters COMAR 10.63.01 - 10.63.38 that would establish requirements for all organizations and specific programmatic requirements for community-based behavioral health services. View the draft regulations here​.​​

BHA appreciates the input of all stakeholders in the promulgation process of the regulations. Please provide any informal comments to these draft regulations via the link found here. 

Please note that these draft regulations substantially revise the existing regulations. To help orient you, please note that the draft is organized as follows:

.01-.06: Requirements for all organizations, including compliance, staffing, documentation, and the licensure process.
.07 is absent as it refers to the Outpatient Civil Commitment which BHA intends to repeal and replace with Assisted Outpatient Treatment.
.08-.36: Program-specific chapters.
.37-.38: Corrective actions and civil monetary penalties.

BHA has provided a r​edline​ which shows changes in the chapters relating to General Compliance and Reporting Requirements, Staffing, Licensure, and Corrective Actions and Sanctions as published in the May 16, 2025 Maryland Register. A full redline of current 10.63 to the draft new 10.63 is impossible given the significant and comprehensive overhaul of the entire subtitle. 

BHA is seeking to provide a comprehensive regulatory structure for each program. All program specific chapters follow the following general format with deviations as necessary for nuances with individual programs. 

10.63.XX - Program Chapters 

• Regulation .01 – Definitions 
• Regulation .02 – (Program Name) Program Description 
• Regulation .03 – (Program Name) Program Staffing Requirements 
• Regulation .04 – (Program Name) Program Services
  Note – Some chapters may have multiple regulations governing program services depending on program requirements. 
• Regulation .05 – (Program Name) Licensure Requirements
  Note – Primarily a cross reference to the licensure chapter. If there are any program specific requirements for licensure they are included here. E.g. OMHC requirement for documented experience providing behavioral health services. ​​​​
• Regulation .06 (Program Name) Site and Documentation Requirements Primarily a cross reference to the site and documentation requirements chapters. If there are any program specific requirements for site and documentation requirements, they are included here.​

Note: The numerical cross references to other draft sections of COMAR 10.63 are not yet final. It is not necessary to alert BHA to errors in the cross references. Thank you for your patience as we work to finalize these draft regulations prior to formal promulgation​.

Withdrawal of May 16th Proposal

​On August 15, 2025, the Maryland Department of Health's Behavioral Health Administration ​announced the Department's intent to withdraw the proposed COMAR 10.63 regulations which were published on May 16, 2025 in the Maryland Register. 

• ​A formal notice of withdrawal published in the Maryland Register on Augu​st 22, 2025​. 
• MDH will continue all planned listening sessions. 

• MDH will not provide formal comment responses to the formal comments submitted with the May 16th proposal. 

Changes Since Proposal Publication

In response to feedback received from the formal comment period, MDH will make the following changes to the proposed​ regulations: