The North Carolina Institute of Medicine’s (NCIOM) Task Force on Mental Health and Substance Use recently presented recommendations to the Joint Committee on Health and Human Services. The NCIOM is funded by the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, with the goal of developing recommendations to increase and improve community-based and evidence-informed prevention, treatment, and recovery services and supports for individuals with mental health and substance use disorders.
The Task Force focused on recommendations to support a full continuum of community-based mental health and substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery services for all North Carolinians. Specifically, the task force made 30 recommendations in total. Some of the most promising recommendations include:
- Increase access to and utilization of mental health and substance use for uninsured residents.
- NC should submit a 1915(c) waiver for kids with serious emotional disturbances.
- Increase access to mental health and substance abuse services for older adults.
- Payments should be connected to positive health outcomes for evidence based mental health and substance abuse services