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North Carolina touts 'first-of-its-kind' behavioral health initiative

North Carolina is preparing a new initiative aimed at improving youth behavioral health. The Children and Families Specialty Plan is expected to launch later this year.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services released an updated policy paper providing details about the initiative this week. The goal is to ensure access to a variety of physical and mental health services for Medicaid-enrolled residents engaged in the child welfare system.

NCDHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley released a statement calling the plan “a first-of-its-kind innovation” which is part of a broader strategy to develop a stronger youth health safety net.

Recent data shows an increased number of high school students consider suicide. The state has also seen a stark increase in children being discharged from emergency departments with behavioral health issues.

In addition to addressing those concerns, the initiative will tackle other issues related to housing, food, transportation, and interpersonal violence.

The Children and Families Specialty Plan is part of an $835 million behavioral health investment from the state general assembly in October.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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