The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services received a $14.8 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on Oct. 5 to support the mental health of children and families in North Carolina.
The grant is intended to enhance the N.C. System of Care — a community-based network that connects people to various health resources, including mental health care, across the state.
Sharon Bell, manager of behavioral health for the Division of Child and Family Well-Being, said N.C. System of Care is made up of all the players in a community that serve children and families, such as behavioral health providers and schools.
“They all come together, really to support the children and try to improve access to care within a local community, keeping kids from going into out-of-home placements or higher levels of care and keeping them engaged in services with their families," she said.
Bell also said that a large portion of the funding will be going toward providing High-Fidelity Wraparound services to every county in North Carolina. The High-Fidelity Wraparound process seeks to help families when youth experience mental health or behavioral challenges.
High-Fidelity Wraparound services provide care in the least restrictive way possible, reducing out-of-home placements and keeping services affordable, said Bell.
Tara Ward, the project manager of the High-Fidelity Wraparound Training Program for NCDHHS, said that the grant will help to expand access to High-Fidelity Wraparound services to all 100 counties in North Carolina.
“This will support with increasing the number of counties that receive High-Fidelity Wraparound, as well as support existing teams with stabilization and just boosting those teams with their utilization,” Ward said.
She said the Wraparound provides a team for each family, including a coach supervisor who oversees the process and a facilitator who ensures that the right people are brought in for the specific needs of the families for meetings.
