North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein is calling on state lawmakers to make significant investments in mental health resources to promote public safety.
In the state’s biennium budget for 2023-2025, lawmakers earmarked $835 million for behavioral health to support crisis stabilization beds for children, mobile crisis teams, crisis receiving teams, and other resources for people involved in the justice system.
Stein is urging state lawmakers to again make that investment.
The Governor also toured Integrated Family Services in Greenville on Thursday, which is opening a new Behavioral Health Urgent Care facility later this month.
“We must have a well-functioning mental health care system that gets people the treatment and support they need to stay healthy and keep us all safe,” Stein said in a press release. “By building on these successful programs that are already making a difference in people’s lives, we can prevent people from falling through the cracks.”
Natasha Holley, CEO of Integrated Family Services, said its mission has always been to bring hope and connection to every person they serve.
“The opening of our Behavioral Health Urgent Care is about making help immediate and accessible — because when someone is in crisis, they shouldn’t have to wait, and they should know exactly where to go,” Holley said. “Mental health and community safety aren’t separate issues; they’re deeply connected. When we strengthen one, we strengthen the other.”
Stein signed Iryna’s Law” (HB 307) last week, named after Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was brutally stabbed on a commuter train in Charlotte in late August. The legislation tightens pretrial release rules for violent offenders, eliminates certain bail conditions, and requires a mental health evaluation for some offenders.
The bill also includes law enforcement recruitment and retention, violence prevention measures, and increased coordination between law enforcement and mental health professionals.
“Law enforcement officers work hard to de-escalate crises and keep people safe, and partnering with mental health professionals makes us even better at our work,” Pitt County Sheriff Paula Dance said. “I am proud of Pitt County’s work to expand access to behavioral health care for defendants. Maintaining competency affirms a person’s inherent dignity and creates movement in court matters that otherwise remain stagnant.”
Stein said behavioral support is critically needed in three aspects of a person’s journey throught the criminal justice system, including to divert people from incarceration and into treatment; to provide treatment to people in prison; and to promote safer communities by ensuring inmates released from prison are able to obtain and maintain housing, employment and health care.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services currently supports a range of behavioral health initiatives, including crisis services and justice-related programs. It also fosters partnerships in Pitt County through mobile crisis and co-response programs.
