Newsletter Articles

As one way of helping the state drive toward the Early Childhood Action Plan goals, NCDHHS is sharing how leaders and advocates across the state are supporting young children in their communities.

Increased cooperation and cross-divisional partnerships were cited as essential to improving DHHS’ service to North Carolina families with Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind children at the 2019 National Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Conference, held March 5 in Chicago.

North Carolina has a long history of leading in early education. But panelists participating in the final session of the North Carolina Early Childhood Summit said we must do more to change early learning outcomes for all young children across the state—especially children of color.

The Early Childhood Action Plan for North Carolina launched in February with a vision to support the state’s young children so they grow up healthy in safe and nurturing families, schools and communities. 

A renowned researcher on early childhood encouraged North Carolina advocates to go beyond traditional thinking to improve the health, safety and well-being of the state's children.

Governor Roy Cooper, former Governor Jim Hunt, NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen, and other top leaders in early childhood came together to launch a detailed framework to galvanize coordinated, statewide public and private action to improve health, safety, family resilience and early learning outcomes for young children. 

More than 1,500 people from across the state have provided feedback on the North Carolina Early Childhood Action Plan, providing valuable input as the plan was drafted. The plan will be finalized and is expected to be shared with the public at the end of February.

Governor Roy Cooper’s 2nd annual School Supply Drive wrapped up last month, with over 3,000 boxes of supplies collected for schools across the state by DHHS and state employees as well as residents.

The two-day Opioid Misuse & Overdose Prevention Summit held last week served as an opportunity to reflect on progress made in North Carolina’s fight against the opioid epidemic and as a rallying cry to continue to invest in supporting communities through prevention and treatment of opioid misuse and overdose.

NCDHHS recognizes employees and partners doing positive work in their communities.

North Carolina Medicaid, which ensures that nearly 2 million children, seniors and people with disabilities receive health care, finished the 2017 state fiscal year with more than $86 million in cash-on-hand. In addition to key improvements to the Medicaid program to combat the opioid crisis and improve overall accountability, it was the fourth straight year for Medicaid to close with savings.

N.C. Public Health Division Director Danny Staley laid out a roadmap to a new strategic service model for public health, known as Public Health 3.0, at this year's North Carolina Health Leaders' Conference in Raleigh.

The goal of National Recovery Month, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is to celebrate individuals in recovery and increase awareness and understanding of substance use disorders.

The state's pre-kindergarten program, which is administered by DHHS, will expand by 1,800 additional 4-year-olds this year, bringing the total number of children enrolled in NC Pre-K to more than 28,000.

Donation bins are available in all state government buildings in Raleigh, businesses that partner with the N.C. Business Committee on Education, and all State Employee Credit Union branch buildings.