Topics Related to Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services

PRESS RELEASE — As part of its commitment to improve the health and well-being of North Carolina children and families, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced the launch of its Child Behavioral Health dashboard. The information shared through this publicly available tool will help the department as well as behavioral health providers, policymakers and stakeholders to identify and address gaps and disparities in behavioral health services for children.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a new Statewide Peer Warmline on Feb. 20, 2024. The new Peer Warmline will work in tandem with the North Carolina 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by giving callers the option to speak with a Peer Support Specialist. Peer Support Specialists (or “peers”) are people living in recovery with mental illness and/or substance use disorder who provide support to others who can benefit from their lived experience. A ribbon-cutting ceremony to raise awareness for the new support line will take place on Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the Promise Resource Network respite facility in Charlotte. A media Q&A will immediately follow.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is committed to developing a more skilled and satisfied caregiver workforce to improve the quality of care and support available to people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) who receive publicly funded home- and community-based services.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat and tele-town hall on Thursday, Jan. 25, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how people can support and improve their mental well-being, where to find resources, when to reach out for help and how to support loved ones who are struggling or in crisis.

PRESS RELEASE — Today, North Carolina leaders released a new report on the state’s caregiving workforce, announcing the next steps in strengthening this critical group of workers. The report comes from the Caregiving Workforce Strategic Leadership Council, a group convened by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the North Carolina Department of Commerce of leaders from government agencies, educational institutions and other key organizations deeply engaged in health care. The new report offers a roadmap of initiatives the state will take to strengthen and support its health care workforce.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is committed to improving youth behavioral health in North Carolina and is leveraging the historic investment from the NC General Assembly to ensure everyone receives the care they need when and where they need it. One of the key initiatives is the Children and Families Specialty Plan — a first of its kind statewide health plan to ensure access to comprehensive physical and behavioral health services for Medicaid-enrolled children, youth and families served by the child welfare system. NCDHHS today released an updated policy paper about the plan, as NCDHHS prepares to launch the plan later this year.

NCDHHS celebrated the historic investment in behavioral health this week with a kickoff at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh. Secretary Kody H. Kinsley, Representative Carla Cunningham and Senator Jim Burgin opened the event by noting the $835 million allocated by the NC General Assembly, which will provide for transformational changes in behavioral health care for every person in North Carolina. This funding was made possible by the federal signing bonus from the enactment of Medicaid expansion.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has launched a performance dashboard for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline to highlight how the suicide and crisis lifeline is being used in North Carolina.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced historic Medicaid reimbursement rate increases will soon be implemented for most mental health, substance use, intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) services in North Carolina. This transformative change is the first increase to the state minimum reimbursement rates for behavioral health services in more than a decade. Raising these rates will strengthen the care workforce who provide these services and increase access to care for every North Carolinian. It will also make Medicaid expansion more impactful for the estimated 600,000 people who will gain access to these Medicaid health care services.