Topics Related to Secretary's Office

Today, the Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood-PLUS (MCCYN-PLUS) initiative launches in North Carolina to make it easier for military families to access and afford quality child care from community providers. The program is funded and run by the U.S. Department of Defense and critical in our state as North Carolina is home to the fourth largest military presence in the nation.

North Carolina leaders are projecting shortages in direct care workers, nurses and other caregiving positions in the coming decade. At the same time, demand for these services is rising. To address this gap, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the North Carolina Department of Commerce are leading North Carolina’s new Caregiving Workforce Strategic Leadership Council.

With overdose deaths in 2021 increasing 22%, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services continues to extend mobile crisis care, treatment programs and other efforts to improve behavioral health services across the state.

NCDHHS is committed to empowering all individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities with the resources they need to live healthy, independent lives in communities of their choosing. That commitment is why we are appealing part of the court order in Samantha R. et al. vs. NCDHHS and the State of North Carolina, which would have put individuals at risk for harm. Today the court issued a stay in the order, temporarily stopping the order while the appeal moves forward.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced it is proposing a change to blood donor eligibility by using gender-inclusive, individual risk-based questions to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted HIV.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat and tele-town hall on Wednesday, Jan. 25, from 6 to 7 p.m. to discuss Navigating Mental Wellness, Aging, Caregiving and the Impacts of COVID-19.

Governor Roy Cooper proclaimed January as National Radon Action Month to help educate people about how to reduce their risk of lung cancer from radon. Because testing is the only way to know if your family is at risk, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is providing 3,000 free radon test kits available now at radon.ncdhhs.gov.

NCDHHS is appealing the Superior Court ruling in the Samantha R. et al. vs. NCDHHS and the state of North Carolina court case.

With the goal of keeping families and communities safe from firearm injury and death, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is releasing a white paper describing public health strategies to reduce firearm violence and misuse.

DHHS' Chief Deputy Secretary for Opportunity and Well-Being, Susan Gale Perry, recently spoke to human services leaders from across the country at the American Public Health Services Association (APHSA) National Health and Human Services 2022 Summit. Perry shared her personal journey with human services and celebrated NCDHHS’ accomplishments during a TED-style talk as part of a session on “Advancing Economic and Social Mobility.”