N.C. creates new division merging child and family health services

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has launched a new department overseeing programs dedicated to promoting health and wellness among families and children. 

The Division of Child and Family Well-Being is designed to streamline the resources available to families and caregivers when it comes to healthy child development.

The new division merges programs and staff previously spread across multiple departments.

Nutrition programs for children, families, and seniors will now be folded into the department. The division will also include a program for health-related services, including initiatives for kids with special health care needs.

Officials say that the division will make it easier to coordinate school and community mental health services for children that are currently spread amongst several agencies.

And the division will oversee the Early Intervention/Infant Toddler program, which provides support and services to young children with developmental issues.

NCDHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley says in a news release that investing in healthy child development “builds more resilient families, better educational outcomes and in the long term, a stronger society.”