AN ACT appropriating funds to the department of health and human services, division of child and family well‑being, to expand access to teen mental health first aid training.

Whereas, ten percent (10%) of North Carolina's high school students reported having attempted suicide in the last year and twenty‑two percent (22%) of these same students reported having seriously contemplated suicide; and

Whereas, 1 in 5 teens in the United States will likely experience a mental health challenge by the age of eighteen and sixty‑four percent (64%) of these teens are unlikely to seek professional help; and

Whereas, teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) is an evidence‑based course developed to teach teens who are in grades nine through twelve, or ages fourteen through eighteen, how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among their friends and peers; and

Whereas, the tMHFA curriculum covers common signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges in this age group and how to connect teens with trusted and responsible adults for support and assistance during a mental health or substance use crisis; and

Whereas, the University of North Carolina has trained 1,519 teens in ten counties in the tMHFA curriculum and established a cohort of 68 tMHFA instructors; and

Whereas, completion of the tMHFA course has shown a fifty percent (50%) increase in the willingness of teens to tell someone and seek help from an adult or health care professional about mental health and substance use challenges; Now, therefore,

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child and Family Well‑Being, the sum of one million eight hundred seventy‑three thousand eight hundred sixty‑three dollars ($1,873,863) in nonrecurring funds for the 2025‑2026 fiscal year to expand access to Teen Mental Health First Aid training in North Carolina.

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2025.