Community-Driven Approaches for Resilient and Empowered Youth
Supporting the youth and young adult mental health across North Carolina
A three-year commitment to implement community-based strategies to improve youth and young adult mental health launched by Carolina Across 100 and the UNC Child and Adolescent Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program (CHAAMP) at the UNC School of Psychiatry.
Meet the “CARE4Youth” Community Collaboratives
10 teams representing 18 counties continue their work with CX100 as statewide leaders in youth mental health
Carolina Across 100 and CHAAMP are partnering with 10 teams from the mountains to the coast of North Carolina to improve youth and young adult mental health. These teams are composed of service providers and healthcare, education, government, workforce, and non-profits entities from 18 counties across the state. Learn more about each team below.
Team 1: Henderson County, Transylvania County
This team’s work is directly supported by those entities listed above, as well as about 2 dozen youth facing groups who are part of our community network.
Team 2: Alleghany County
Team 3: Ashe County
Team 4: Burke County
Team 5: Burke County
Team 6: Iredell County
Team 7: Alamance County, Rockingham County
Team 8: Franklin County, Wake County
- Oasis Health and Wellness Centers International
- Wake County Health and Human Services
- Town of Wake Forest
- NCSU School of Social Work
- Fathers Forever
- Northern Wake Senior Center
- Housing Authority of Wake County
- Tri-County Community Collaborative for Children
- Franklin County Prevention and Thrive Team
- Vaya Health
- WakeMed Center for Community Health
- Local barbers and beauty salons and the faith community
Team 9: Bladen County, Columbus County
- Bladen County Schools
- Columbus County Schools
- NCDHHS Employment and Independence for People with Disabilities (EIPD)
- Bladen County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council
- Columbus County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council
- Community Support Agency
- Men and Women United for Youth and Families
- Ransom Activity Center
- Bladen County Smart Start
- Columbus County Smart Start
- Bladen Cooperative Extension
- Columbus Cooperative Extension
- MDC Rural Forward
Team 10: Beaufort, Bertie, Hertford, Martin, and Pitt Counties
Team Updates
We recognize that youth and young adult behavioral health is a state-wide concern. Carolina Across 100 is committed to sharing program resources and findings to help all North Carolina communities benefit from the work of the CARE4Youth program. We will regularly update this page and the CX100 Stories page with learnings, updates, and resources!
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June 2025
Teams Gather
Community leaders representing participating CARE4Youth teams will gather online with the CX100 team to launch the program!
Impacts Beyond Health
If mental health challenges are properly treated, young adults, their families, and communities benefit from far-reaching, positive effects:
Educational Attainment
- Decreased likelihood of dropping out of high school, even among young adults at higher risk for not completing their degrees
- Increased likelihood of attending and completing college
Lifelong Wellbeing
- Decreased risk for conditions such as strokes, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, and more.
- Increased likelihood of marriage
- Increased life expectancy
Economic Prosperity
- Increased family incomes, with the potential of up to $300,000 more in earnings across a lifetime.
- 35% higher family incomes
- Higher socioeconomic status, especially as a result of higher educational attainment
Together, we can improve outcomes for North Carolina’s young people
While the challenges are great, we have the tools to meet them.
Evidenced-based interventions can have positive impact on the lives of youth and young adults in our state.
Resources
Find Mental Health Treatment
Learn
- How to identify warning signs of mental health difficulty in youth
- Different types of mental health professionals and the services they provide
- Youth and young adult mental health trends
- Possible solutions to address youth and young adult behavioral health trends
- What is Behavior Health?
- CDC: About Behavior Health
Crisis Resources and Helplines
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
- Teen Line: An anonymous, nonjudgmental space for youth. 800-852-8336 Nationwide (6 PM – 10 PM PST) or TEXT TEEN to 839863. (6 PM – 9 PM PST)
- NAMI HelpLine | NAMI: HelpLine staff and volunteers are experienced, well-trained, and able to provide guidance. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., EST. 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or helpline@nami.org
- Mental Health Warmline: Warmlines are staffed by trained peers who have been through their own mental health struggles and know what it’s like to need help. 1 (800) 945-1355. Hours: 4:00 PM – 10:00 PM EST every night of the year including holidays.
- Disaster Distress Helpline – 24/7 crisis counseling for emotional distress related to a disaster: 1-800-985-5990
- National Helpline – Free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service: 1-800–662-HELP (4357)
North Carolina Resources
- NC crisis services
- LME/MCO map
- Assistance with Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, Substance Use and Traumatic Brain Injury.
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a free nationwide peer-support service.
- NCDHHS Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services.
- Mental Health Services.
- NCDHHS Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services Community Engagement and Training.
- HopeLine’s staff and volunteers listeners create an atmosphere of acceptance and trust, where the caller feels free to express their thoughts and feelings.
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a major academic center for assessment, treatment, research and teaching in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
N.C. Info
- North Carolina behavioral health trends.
- Emergency department visit data for select mental health conditions from 2017-present.
- Local challenges and responses.
- The state’s expansive and strategic efforts to transform the public behavioral health system to deliver high-quality, equitable, accessible care that meets people where they are in their communities.
- NCDHHS approval for $11 million in funding to community-based diversion programs and reentry services that strengthen support for people involved in the justice system.
Our Partners
Participating communities will benefit from the expertise of UNC faculty and staff who specialize in youth mental health. CHAAMP faculty will serve as primary subject matter experts for this endeavor. CHAAMP is a cutting-edge clinical research program dedicated to improving the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders in youth, from early childhood through young adulthood. CHAAMP faculty, most of whom are licensed clinical child and adolescent psychologists, study a range of important topics related to youth mental health including depression, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, psychosis, and early life adversity.
Improving youth mental health requires the collaborative efforts of experts across the many contexts where youth and young adults develop. In addition to CHAAMP, this program will engage other UNC faculty and staff from the School of Medicine, Public Health, School of Law, School of Government, School of Education, School of Social Work, and other subject matter experts in order to best support community teams as they develop sustainable, collaborative systems of care that respond to the unique needs for their communities.
