Groundhog Day Is Uncertain. Access to Inclusive Mental Health Care Shouldn't Be. Monarc LLC is the FIRST mental health clinic in Maryland designed solely to address the needs of the disabled

ABERDEEN, Md., Jan. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On February 2nd, Monarc LLC officially launches its website, monarcmd.org introducing a first-of-its-kind model where a nonprofit serving people with disabilities directly provides specialized mental health therapy. Monarc LLC at The Arc NCR is filling in the gap in the mental health care system.

Monarc LLC, is a new integrated mental health and wellness practice created by The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region (The Arc NCR), which quietly began accepting patients in the Fall of 2025. Success stories from the treatment are already being shared. Joyce, a seven-year-old with autism has already made improvements at school after receiving therapy. Damon, a 13-year-old with autism has also made significant progress.

The Problem: For years, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and neurodiverse people have had to squeeze into mental health systems that weren’t designed with them in mind. Traditional therapy often assumes typical communication styles, sensory processing, and life experiences. When someone shows up differently, they’re often misunderstood, misdiagnosed, or told that the service just “isn’t a good fit.”

Yet the demand for mental health care within the disabled community is high.

Adults with disabilities experience frequent mental distress nearly five times more than adults without disabilities (Source: CDC).

The Solution: Monarc LLC was built around a simple but powerful belief: mental health care should be inclusive. The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region now offers direct mental health therapy to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and other neurodiverse populations.

Facts:

The Arc NCR quietly launched Monarc LLC, a new integrated health and wellness practice designed to deliver compassionate, inclusive, trauma-informed mental health services for people of all abilities. Monarc began seeing patients at the end of September 2025, and within a few weeks, had a full schedule of patients.
Monarc was created to address a growing and urgent need for accessible, high-quality mental health care in Harford and Cecil Counties, with a special and intentional focus on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and other neurodiverse populations which are communities that have historically faced significant barriers to care.
Adults with disabilities experience frequent mental distress nearly five times more than adults without disabilities (CDC).
They are 3.5 times more likely to have experienced a major depressive episode (America’s Health Rankings).
Nearly 33% of adults with disabilities report 14 or more mentally unhealthy days each month.

Quotes:
Under the leadership of Holly Preston, Chief Program Officer of The Arc NCR, Monarc LLC works in parallel to the services provides by The Arc NCR. “We are thrilled to launch Monarc, an inclusive mental health practice serving Harford and Cecil Counties,” said Preston. “We are very proud to be serving people of all abilities, but we have a very special and very intentional focus on expanding access to care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and other neurodiverse populations.”

“People with IDD and neurodiverse populations experience the same mental health concerns as anyone else, but often there are communication barriers that make diagnosing and treating those conditions more challenging,” Preston explained.

Monarc is part of The Arc NCR family and represents a natural evolution of the organization’s long-standing mission to empower people with differing abilities to live, work, and thrive in the community of their choosing. By integrating mental health services into its continuum of care, The Arc NCR is addressing the whole person, recognizing that emotional well-being is foundational to independence, inclusion, and quality of life.

Monarc LLC Services: Monarc’s clinicians provide trauma-informed mental health services, meeting each person where they are and crafting care plans that are unique, flexible, and responsive to individual needs. Every plan is tailored to a person’s communication style, sensory needs, life experiences, and goals, ensuring therapy is meaningful, effective, and dignified.

Services include:

Individual therapy
Family or couples counseling
Psychiatric evaluation and medication management
Group therapy
Services for children, adolescents (ages 6+), and adults

Monarc prioritizes serving people supported by The Arc NCR, followed by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Harford and Cecil Counties, and then the broader community.

QUOTES:

Margaret Webb, DNP, CRNP-PMH, Executive Director of Monarc, LLC explained the collaboration, “Monarc is part of The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region family. It extends our mission of empowering people with differing abilities by providing access to inclusive, compassionate mental health care. People with differing abilities experience the same mental health challenges as anyone else, but often face added barriers such as communication differences, misdiagnosis, or lack of access to appropriate care. Monarc was created to change that.”. Webb explained, “Monarc is more than a mental health practice, it’s a movement toward equity, access, and belonging for people with differing abilities and neurodiverse individuals. It’s where compassion meets innovation.”

https://arcncr.org/monarc/

Interviews available:

Margaret Webb, DNP, CRNP-PMH, Executive Director of Monarc LLC
Holly Preston, Chief Program Officer of The Arc NCR
Joyce and her mom, Eileen, Patients at Monarc LLC
Damon (non-verbal) and his parents, Rodolfo and Shaela, Patients at Monarc LLC

Photo included: Joyce, a seven-year-old with autism has already made improvements at school after receiving therapy