Behavioral Health
NC Counts Coalition created a behavioral health pilot assessment, funded under the Healthier Together public-private partnership with NC DHHS. The purpose of this assessment was to guide the expansion of community-based organizations’ capabilities in addressing the behavioral health needs of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ children/students in grades K-12 affected by COVID-19. This was critical in helping these specific communities recover from the pandemic, as research showed that the COVID-19 pandemic had exacerbated the growing behavioral health crisis among BIPOC and LGBTQ+ children and adolescents.
The assessment included 55 listening sessions hosted by 31 coalition member organizations throughout the state over a 3-week period that engaged almost 3,000 community members. It also included an internal assessment of 80 coalition member organizations to better understand and evaluate the capacity of those organizations to engage in behavioral health outreach.
Accomplishments
Certification
100% of NC Counts Coalition staff members are certified as Youth Mental Health First Aid Trainers by the National Council for Mental WellBeing.
Training
NC Counts staff members provided Youth Mental Health First Aid training to 129 individuals, representing various member organizations of the coalition.
Funding
NC Counts funded 66 member organizations who received youth mental health first aid training to implement an event/outreach in their community, sharing information and resources from Youth Mental Health First Aid training. Each awardee received a $5,000 grant to facilitate this outreach initiative.
