Get the story behind the North Carolina Behavioral Health Initiative and why our work is important.

The North Carolina Behavioral Health Initiative (NCBHI) supports collaboration between community-based teams and residents to implement focused strategies that address behavioral health challenges affecting their neighborhood and/or wider community region.

What is Behavioral Health?

Behavioral health at the community level refers to the collective well-being of a population as it relates to mental health, emotional resilience, and behaviors that influence overall health. It includes how communities experience, respond to, and recover from issues like substance use, trauma, stress, and other mental health challenges.

The NCBHI Purpose

Achieving optimal behavioral health within a community requires a comprehensive strategy that addresses the social, economic, and environmental factors and systems that negatively impact the health of individuals. Since 2016, NCBHI has been championing cooperation among place-based agencies, community members, and organizations in their work to identify the critical behavioral health issues affecting their community and the development and implementation of plans to address risk factors.

Why Do Health Disparities Exist?

Historically, health disparities have existed among disadvantaged communities due to systems that unjustly segregated them based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, sexual identity, socio-economic status, and geography. The result has been reduced access to adequate healthcare and barriers to social services, creating devastating effects, including:

  • Elevated levels of mental health disorders
  • A greater instance of substance use
  • Higher rates of suicide
  • Poverty
  • Domestic violence
  • Childhood & historical trauma

  • Involvement in the foster care and criminal justice systems

To date, these and other chronic health issues disproportionately affect individuals, families, and communities that have been subjected to social, economic, and cultural injustice.

Have questions?

We are here to help answer any questions and assist with grant applications.

NCBHI Takes Aim at What’s Causing Health Inequities Through Collaborative, Locally-Led Projects

For 2022-23, NCBHEI funding is shifting its focus upstream to address the root causes — or social determinants (non-medical factors) — producing health disparities. Our objective is to tackle local problems caused by systemic and structural sources that trigger ongoing imbalances, factors such as the lack of affordable housing, limited educational options, and inadequate access to health services.

By providing resources to support place-based initiatives and advocacy efforts, NCBHEI will make it possible for grantees and their community partners to

  • Prioritize a problem to address, and
  • Learn how to identify, adopt, and ensure the enforcement of a policy or practice that will support equitable, sustainable, and structural change.