Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is investing $5.5 million into the FIT Wellness program, part of the North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition Program in the UNC School of Medicine, to improve reentry services for the justice-involved population. FIT Wellness delivers psychiatric and physical health care services along with connections to community supports such as housing, transportation and phones for people in the state prison system who have Serious Mental Illness.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released the request for proposal to hire the organization that will help manage the Children and Families Specialty Plan. The first-of-its-kind statewide health plan will ensure access to comprehensive physical and behavioral health services for Medicaid-enrolled children, youth and families served by the child welfare system. The CFSP is one initiative among many at work to improve youth behavioral health in North Carolina. 

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 — February is National Children's Dental Health Month, and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is emphasizing the importance of children's dental hygiene to overall health and well-being. Currently in North Carolina, nearly one in five kindergartners have untreated tooth decay, which can have long-term health impacts such as chronic disease.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services distributed funds this week to county departments of social services to help improve placements for children in DSS custody who have complex behavioral health needs. These critical funds come at a time when an average of 32 children are living in DSS offices each week because there is no place for them to go that is appropriate for their care.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat and tele-town hall Tuesday, Feb. 6, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss Medicaid expansion updates and resources, who is newly eligible and how to apply for health coverage.

MEDIA ADVISORY — North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and state leaders will attend the State Medical Response System Showcase on Feb. 1, 2024, to discuss the importance of the state medical emergency response team partnership and tour emergency response assets. Event participants will give a brief presentation beginning at 2 p.m., which will be immediately followed by a tour and media availability.

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 — 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 — Since the state expanded who is eligible for Medicaid on Dec. 1, 2023, 314,101 North Carolinians have enrolled in the program and now have access to comprehensive health care, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Medicaid Expansion Enrollment Dashboard. The dashboard was updated today and includes the number of people who have enrolled as of Jan. 12, 2024.

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 — 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.

MEDIA ADVISORY — To increase access to contraception in North Carolina, NCDHHS through NC Medicaid, is now enrolling pharmacists as Medicaid providers and paying for contraceptive counseling services provided in pharmacies. State health leaders will attend an event on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. to celebrate the actions taken by NC Medicaid to make these important services more accessible to North Carolinians.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat and tele-town hall Wednesday, Jan. 10, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss Medicaid expansion, including impacts on rural communities, who is newly eligible and ways to apply for health care coverage.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live Cafecito and tele-town hall on Thursday, Jan. 11, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss Medicaid expansion, who is newly eligible, ways to apply and which qualified immigration statuses are eligible for health care coverage.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is providing 5,000 free residential radon test kits during Radon Action Month.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today updated its weekly Respiratory Virus Summary Dashboard, which shows high volumes of people being seen in hospital emergency departments with respiratory illness symptoms across North Carolina. NCDHHS is urging people to get tested and seek treatment early to prevent severe illness. People with mild symptoms should seek testing and treatment from their regular health care provider, urgent care or a telehealth provider instead of going to the emergency department during this spike in COVID-19 , flu, RSV and other respiratory illnesses.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services launched a dashboard to track monthly enrollment in Medicaid for people eligible through expansion.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is joining southeastern states, insurers and national leaders in health care and public health for a collaborative effort to combat the congenital syphilis crisis. Participants from NCDHHS and other states’ public health and Medicaid programs aligned on recommendations for standard syphilis screening in pregnant women and for providers to adhere to the requirements around control measures for diseases like congenital syphilis. A group of states agreed to come together to bring case counts down, particularly in the southeast.

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.