North Carolina Expands School-Based Mental Health Through Federal Project AWARE Grant
North Carolina received two rounds of federal SAMHSA Project AWARE grants totaling $8.8 million (2018) and additional funding (2021) to embed mental health services in six school districts: Beaufort, Cleveland, Rockingham, Jackson, Nash, and Sampson counties. The program created a licensed clinical mental health counselor job classification for school districts, established training programs, and built infrastructure for mental health service delivery in schools. SAMHSA announced $55.7 million in new funding in July 2026, with North Carolina applying for a third cohort; the state expects to learn whether it received funding by September 1, 2026. The initiative replaced fragmented approaches to student mental health with coordinated school-based services.
North Carolina's approach demonstrates how federal grant funding can build Medicaid-eligible behavioral health infrastructure in schools, creating pathways for Medicaid managed care organizations to coordinate with school-based providers and expand access to covered behavioral health services for Medicaid-enrolled students.
Behavioral Health · Managed Care
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