Press Releases

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, today released the North Carolina School Behavioral Health Action Plan to address the urgent mental and behavioral health crisis facing youth through key investments in our schools.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live Cafecito and Spanish-language tele-town hall on Tuesday, March 28, from 6 to 7 p.m. to discuss the importance of managing health with a focus on rural and farmworker communities and available resources across the state.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat and tele-town hall on Thursday, March 23, from 6 to 7 p.m. to discuss the importance of whole person health with a focus on realities in rural communities and available resources across the state.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today launched an improved QuitlineNC, offering more services and ways for tobacco users to successfully quit smoking or stop using other tobacco products, including vaping and e-cigarettes. Those seeking to quit smoking can now access "Quit Coaches" through live chat or text, watch group videos and create a personalized dashboard to track their quitting progress.

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.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced it has received approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to operate the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) program during the 2022-23 school year.

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.

Hundreds of people in North Carolina each day are waiting inside hospital emergency departments for behavioral health care. One reason is that a real-time list of operational beds isn’t available, which makes it difficult to connect people in emergency departments to care in more appropriate settings. To address the growing behavioral health crisis, the NC Department of Health and Human Services is today launching a new tool to help hospitals and other providers quickly find an open bed where people can get the behavioral health treatment they deserve.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has awarded more than $3.2 million to nine colleges and universities across the state to increase access to recovery services and supports on campuses for students with substance use disorders. These awards address a growing need for behavioral health care among young adults and the Department’s top priority to improve Behavioral health and resilience in North Carolina.

In North Carolina and nationally, emergency allotments for COVID-19 in the Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) program will end in March 2023. Households that have been receiving extra FNS benefits (called "emergency allotments") each month since March 2020 or after will see a reduction in benefits because of a federal change that ends emergency allotments for all states.