Governor Cooper discusses mental health initiatives at colleges and universities – Washington Daily News

Today, Governor Roy Cooper joined U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and students, faculty, and staff at Central University of North Carolina to learn about the work of the university to expand and strengthen mental health services at North Carolina higher education institutions.

“We know the past few years have been tough and we want to make sure our students have the tools they need to be successful,” Cooper said. “We will continue to focus on expanding access to mental health services for our students and partnering with strong institutions like North Carolina Central University to make this happen.”

In May 2021, the Governor earmarked $5 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding to support mental health initiatives across the UNC system and at community colleges and independent colleges and universities across the state. The funding is part of North Carolina’s share of the Governor’s Education Emergency Relief Fund (GEER), federal dollars that are intended to help school districts, post-secondary institutions or other related entities education to cope with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The UNC system is using the funding to provide a 24-hour crisis hotline for students to receive support and to train up to 10,000 faculty, staff and students in mental health first aid on UNC system campuses, private universities, and community colleges.

Nearly $1 million of the funding was distributed to individual UNC institutions to support their work in building mental health resources on their campuses. North Carolina Central University received $50,000 in funding to partner with counseling professionals in key areas, including trauma and family therapy.

North Carolina Central University is the nation’s premier liberal arts college for black students. Consistently ranked among the best historically black colleges or universities and the best regional university in the South, the university offers flagship programs in science, education, law, business, nursing, and the arts.