RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper unveiled on Wednesday a $1 billion plan to address the state’s mental health and substance abuse needs, which have spiked amid increasing overdose deaths and spiraling rates of suicide among young people.
The Democratic governor’s office said his initiatives, which will be outlined in his upcoming state budget proposal, include more behavioral health services for those in schools and in jails. He also wants to spend more on in-patient treatment and supplemental services like mobile crisis units to help people facing psychiatric episodes.
Cooper also wants to raise Medicaid reimbursement rates to providers of mental health services because he said they haven’t been updated in a decade.
Drug overdose deaths in North Carolina surged by 72% over the past two years — exceeding 4,000 in 2021 — while youth suicides have doubled in the past decade, according to a summary of the proposal.
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