The Story Behind the Curve was created by community partners and providers, residents with lived experience, and local health department staff.  

Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for New Hanover County residents ages 20-39. There is a common expressed need for more mental health services and providers, expecially for youth, people of color, and the LGBTQIA+ community. Residents also expressed that for the services that are available, they are not high-quality. 

What's Helping: Mental Health?

General

• New Hanover is a resource dense county.
• New Hanover County Street Outreach team.
• Training to prevent adverse experiences.
• Healthy Opportunities pilot.
• Use of evidence-based practices.
• Tailored Plan care mangement.
• Integrating behavioral health in primary care.
• Increase in marketing of local services.
• NCCARE 360.
• New national 988# crisis line for support.

Age

• Licensed Clinical Therapists on staff at the Senior Resource Center.
• Licensed Clinical Therapists on staff in all public elementary and middle schools.

Ethnicity

• New NHC Hispanic Commission.

Race

• Port City United.

What's Hurting: Mental Health?

General

• Stigma.
• Residents are unaware of services and/or how to access them.
• Waitlists for mental health services.
• Cost for mental health services.
• Lack of available inpatient beds.
• Not all providers see clients with Medicaid/uninsured.
• The provider network is not large enough.
• Lack of diversity in providers.
• Lack of cultural awareness among providers.
• Criminalization of mental health/substance use disorders.
• Lack of access to adequate and comprehensive local data.

Age

• Lack of child mental health providers.
• Lack of juvenile treatment facilities.

Ethnicity

• Language/literacy barriers.
• Availability of materials/availability of translators.
• Political barriers.
• Transportation.
• Threat of deportation when seeking care.

Gender

• Policies that make it harder to serve clients, especially the LGBTQ+ community.
• Special need for Trans care.

Partners in our Community Health Improvement Process:

• Coastal Horizons
• Local Providers
• NHC Resiliency Task Force
• NHC Office of Strategy
• NHC Senior Resource Center
• NHC Health and Human Services
• NHC Veteran Services
• SEAHEC
• Trillium
• The Healing Place

Additional Partners with a Role in Helping our Community Do Better:

• Cape Fear Latinos
• Child First
• Clinca Latina
• Community Health Workers
• CCLCF/HOP
• Latino Alliance
• LINC
• LGBTQ Center of the Cape Fear Coast
• MedNorth
• NHC Community Justice Services
• Port City United
• Physicians Alliance- ACT team services
• RHA- Mobile Crisis Unit
• UNCW & CFCC

Input for What Works to Do Better was gathered from community partners and providers, as well as the Healthy NC 2030 State Health Improvement Plan.

What Works to Do Better

• Implement policies targeted to decrease access to lethal means.
• Increasing education on protective factors and positive coping skills.
• Reduce barriers to accessing mental health care.
• Reduce barriers to seeking mental health care (stigma). 
• Create trauma informed schools with access to mental health providers.
• Increase programs that provide mental health services and support for LGBTQIA+ youth.
• Increase programs that provide mental health services and support for veterans.
• Increase access to tele-mental health services. 
• Expand Medicaid eligibility criteria to increase access to mental health services.
• Increase state funding for mental health services provided through local mental health systems.
• Increase use of evidence-based practices.
• Increase cross-system collaboration.