As Governor Josh Stein proclaims May as Mental Health Awareness Month, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reaffirms its commitment to increasing access to care and highlights mental health services available across the state.
“Nearly 1.5 million North Carolinians struggle with mental health issues,” Stein said. “No one chooses to suffer from a mental health condition. We can do a better job helping people in need. My budget expands mental health services for students, first responders, and folks living in rural areas while providing more psychiatric inpatient beds so people can get the care they need where they need it. Together we can reduce stigma and build a safer, stronger, and healthier North Carolina.”
“I applaud our state’s commitment to increasing access to mental health and substance use services across North Carolina,” said First Lady Anna Stein. “The strategic investments NCDHHS has made to bolster our mental health infrastructure will have a positive impact on so many lives.”
“Encouraging data show that suicide prevention efforts in North Carolina are working, with the first decline in suicide deaths in five years. But there is more work to be done,” said NC Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai. “We are committed to removing barriers to mental health care to ensure that treatment and services are available in all communities in the State.”
NCDHHS is leading several initiatives to support a system of care for mental health that works for everyone in North Carolina. These include investing in crisis care and community-based services like walk-in clinics and urgent care centers focused on mental health while enhancing coordination between 988 and mobile crisis teams.
It includes building a strong mental health workforce and working with state and community partners to help people who are at risk of becoming involved or are involved in the justice system.
Stein signed Executive Order No. 33 in February 2026, allowing NCDHHS to expand efforts centered on crisis care, services that help people avoid incarceration, treatments while incarcerated and community reintegration. Examples include partnerships with community organizations like Daymark Recovery Services and Aya House to provide housing support, mental health treatment and employment assistance for people recently released from incarceration.
NCDHHS also invested in expansion of Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion and creating Forensic Assertive Community Treatment teams in North Carolina. Ensuring community supports and appropriate options are available if someone is in a mental health crisis is a top priority for NCDHHS.
In the past two years, NCDHHS has provided funds to support eight Behavioral Health Urgent Care facilities across the state to provide people experiencing a mental health emergency with alternatives to emergency departments. New facilities have opened in Alamance, Buncombe, Caldwell, Haywood, Pitt, Robeson, Rockingham and Rowan counties with others planned for Cabarrus, Johnston, Lenoir, Vance and Wake counties.
The investments are part of a goal to increase the state’s capacity to provide behavioral health urgent care by more than 50 percent.
“Too many people who need urgent mental health care end up in hospital emergency departments, which are not best equipped to meet these needs,” said Kelly Crosbie, MSW, LCSW, Assistant Secretary for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services. “These investments are greatly expanding the state’s capacity to provide the appropriate care for someone experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis. We are building a robust system where everyone in North Carolina will have someone to contact and a safe place to go for help.”
In addition to the increase in community crisis options, North Carolina continues to outpace the national average on the number of people calling the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. 988 is free, confidential, and available any time. Overall, call volume to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in North Carolina has increased by more than 100 percent in the first three years.
People can call or text 988 or use the chat function at 988Lifeline.org. Spanish-speaking crisis counselors can be reached by calling 988 and pressing option 2, by texting “AYUDA” to 988, or by chatting online at 988lineadevida.org or 988Lifeline.org
Trained counselors are also available for veterans. More than 1,000 calls to 988 each month are referred to a mobile crisis team. The team is made up of one or two helpful and caring counselors who can meet an individual at home, school or somewhere they feel safe. NCDHHS has a list of mobile crisis teams you can call 24/7 across North Carolina.
North Carolina also has the NC Peer Warmline (1-855-PEERS-NC), a free, private phone number individuals can call day or night to talk with someone who understands. Callers are connected to someone who has personal experiences with mental health or substance use disorders.
Since launch, warmline counselors have received more than 130,000 calls, with referrals ranging from behavioral health providers, shelter, employment, food or medical needs. It is important to remember, when it comes to mental health, help is available and no one is alone. Individuals can get support for social or family situations, depression, anxiety panic attacks, thoughts of suicide, alcohol or drug use or just talk to someone who understands.
To connect with someone now or to review options for care please go to the NCDHHS mental health crisis services web page.
NCDHHS also has established a new interactive map for open access and walk-in clinics that are available for care. You can also see more of NCDHHS efforts and programs toward building a comprehensive mental health care system in the NCDHHS Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services in the 2024-2029 strategic plan and one year progress report.