behavioral health
NC Health and Human Services Sec. Kody Kinsley on the need to make Medicaid expansion a reality
North Carolina’s Secretary of Health and Human Services Kody Kinsley joins NC Newsline for an extended conversation in which we discuss the desperate need to make Medicaid expansion a reality, the inadequate funding allotted by lawmakers to serve people with mental health problems and developmental disabilities, and a hopeful bit of progress in expanding donations […]
State launches pilot to restore people’s capacity so they can have their day in court
Last week the North Carolina Department of Health and Human services announced a pilot program to restore the capacity of people with mental health conditions whom the courts determined were incapable to proceed to trial. Per state law, a person lacks the capacity to proceed in a criminal case if they are unable to understand […]
Monday numbers: The youth mental health crisis
Last week, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services held its eighth in a series of state-wide town halls on mental health. Held in Winston-Salem, the discussion focused on the crisis in youth mental health apparent in North Carolina and across the nation.
“Behavioral health is essential to health,” DHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley told the standing-room-only crowd in the Forsyth County Board Commissioners chamber Thursday. “For far too long we have divided up physical and behavioral health. And for far too long we just didn’t fund and support behavioral health in a way that made it foundational. And we’re changing that - one conversation at a time, one strategy at a time.”
Strategies for improving North Carolina’s struggling mental health system
Speakers agree Medicaid expansion is key; GOP lawmakers say a vote could come as early as March Cindy Ehlers is mother to a son with disabilities who came to live with her family as a traumatized young foster child. Ehlers is also a chief executive officer at one of the state’s regional managed care organizations for people with mental illnesses, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities.
Monday numbers: NC’s youth are struggling. State officials say it’s time to get serious about mental health services.
As the North Carolina General Assembly returns to Raleigh this week for the 2023 session, state educators and healthcare providers are issuing an urgent call for improved student access to mental health services. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) was recently awarded $17 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education to help student mental health needs in 15 school districts.
State Board of Education hears sobering details of the pandemic’s impact on youth mental health
Trauma, depression, and suicide have spiked and a bill in the General Assembly could make things worse The pandemic has been unkind to America’s school children. Academically, K-12 students experienced significant learning loss while stuck at home during the height of the pandemic. The long-term impact of students falling behind in school keeps educators awake at night.