The initiative, which provides home-based clinical therapy for young children and their caregivers, aims to prevent child maltreatment and reduce foster care entry.
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina is expanding its early childhood intervention program into more counties with a $3 million investment, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.
The funding aims to increase access to behavioral health care and family support services through the Child First program, which provides home-based clinical therapy for young children through age five and their caregivers.
“We know that the earliest years of life set the foundation for a child’s future health and well-being,” NCDHHS Secretary Dev Sangvai said. “By expanding access to Child First, we are ensuring that more families receive the support they need to create stable, nurturing environments where young children can thrive.”
Trillium Health Resources and Alliance Health will each receive $1 million to expand services into a combined 22 new counties. Vaya Health will allocate $350,000 for expansion in western North Carolina, with the remaining funds supporting other behavioral health programs.
Child First currently operates in 31 North Carolina counties through various providers including Children’s Home Society, RHA Health Services, Easterseals PORT Health and Coastal Horizons.
“Investing in early intervention and prevention services is one of the most effective ways we can support children and families, helping them build stability and resilience before a challenge becomes a crisis,” Susan Osborne, NCDHHS Deputy Secretary for Opportunity and Well-Being, said.
The initiative is part of NCDHHS’s larger $835 million investment in behavioral health transformation, with $80 million specifically designated for building a child behavioral health system focused on trauma-informed, family-centered care.
The NCDHHS is also establishing a Child First Learning Collaborative to assess the program’s effectiveness. The collaborative will bring together providers, participating LME/MCOs, and Child First NC partners to inform future investments in community-based services.
The program targets families experiencing challenges such as poverty, domestic violence, substance abuse, homelessness, or incarceration, aiming to prevent child maltreatment and reduce entry into the foster care system.
