Youth mental well-being and resiliency
Learning from listening
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) is partnering across the state to make a difference for our youth.
From 2021 to 2023, executives joined in conversations with business, health care, education, and public policy leaders in all 100 North Carolina counties. They shared their priorities and concerns, and no concern was more urgent than helping children and young people – many of whom feel anxious, sad, and lost – find a sense of purpose, belonging, and connection in their communities.
In North Carolina, there is no health challenge more urgent than the youth mental health crisis. The numbers alone are alarming:
Taking action
Expanding access to high-quality care
Children and teens facing mental health issues need to know that there’s someone there to help them get through. So do their parents and guardians.
We're creating an expanded network of same-day mental health services to make access to care easier and faster. We're ensuring members have access to the care they need by increasing the number of in-network mental health care providers and making virtual or on-demand care more accessible.
We are also providing help navigating the mental health care system to make it less stressful to find mental health support and helping doctors connect patients with mental health professionals more quickly and easily.
Investing in preventive mental health care
We're working to bring more preventive mental health care resources to communities across the state. We're also expanding school-based counseling to support early intervention and make mental health resources more accessible in schools.
We recently joined mental health experts and philanthropic funders to create a statewide behavioral health action plan that will address pressing mental health challenges at a large-scale level.
Enhancing community support
We're bringing Youth Mental Health First Aid Training to all 100 North Carolina counties. Blue Cross NC will leverage its employees and partnerships with youth-based organizations to train people across the state, including 10% of Blue Cross NC's workforce, in Youth Mental Health First Aid by the end of 2025.
We're also enlisting employee volunteers for our Blue Corps to offer support for youth mental health in addition to their other community work. Blue Corps is our skill-based volunteering initiative that matches the expertise of our employees with local nonprofits to tackle issues.
