RALEIGH — While the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services works to strengthen the state’s crisis care system, new survey results show that North Carolinians are satisfied with the mental health and substance use services they receive through the LME/MCOs.
NCDHHS conducts a survey each year as a reporting requirement for the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. These promising results come just two years after the NCGA made a historic investment in mental health care in North Carolina, indicating NCDHHS efforts to support a robust, comprehensive mental health care system are working.
While the 2026 survey kicked off Aug. 10 and will run through Sept. 18, results from the statewide 2025 Mental Health and Substance Use Services Client Perceptions of Care survey that was conducted Aug. 14–Sept. 24, 2025, are now available.
The 2025 survey included in-person paper surveys or web-based surveys completed at a provider’s office, and provider-administered telephonic or two-way audio/video surveys. Survey responses were confidential and participation was voluntary, and the survey was available in English and Spanish. The state received nearly 8,000 responses from adults, youth, and children and families who receive services in North Carolina.
"While these results are encouraging, they show we still have plenty of work to do," said N.C. Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai. "Improving access to affordable care and strengthening our provider workforce are among our top priorities to build a crisis to care system that gives everyone someone to call, someone to respond and somewhere to go."
The survey results show general satisfaction with services held steady at 95% for both adults and children/families. Youth satisfaction dropped to 87% this year, which is the lowest it has been since 2019. Youth results also decreased in satisfaction from prior years in the area of treatment planning (83%). which includes questions about choosing treatment services and goals. Adult survey respondents expressed greater satisfaction in all areas of the survey this year from the prior year.
Almost every category experienced a slight decline in the Child/Family Survey, although General Satisfaction remained steady at 95% and Cultural Sensitivity remained at 99%. Outcomes and Functioning each received a 75% satisfaction rating, which represented declines of 4 and 6 percentage points, respectively.
The survey also contained supplemental questions about telehealth and teletherapy services, with 41.2% of respondents reporting either they or their child had used telehealth services within the past six months. Youth respondents used telehealth services at the highest rate (45.5%), while 60.2% of youth and 63.7% of child respondents found telehealth more helpful than seeing a provider in person, compared to 44.9% of adults. The survey identified the primary barriers to telehealth were availability, discomfort with technology or clients preferring face-to-face services.
LME/MCO service providers will engage people who are receiving services to participate. The survey is to learn what people think about the quality of the services they received, and for us to find areas where services can be improved.
"This kind of feedback will only serve to inspire us to work even harder," said Kelly Crosbie, MSW, LCSW, assistant secretary for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services. "Expanding services into rural areas is crucial to ensuring everyone in North Carolina can receive the treatment and support they need in a format that is most comfortable to them."
In the past two years, NCDHHS has expanded its crisis care network with nine new Behavioral Health Urgent Cares (BHUC) and two new Facility-Based Crisis centers, including a youth and adults flexible BHUC and FBC at the Stephen M. Morris Behavioral Center in Concord, which opened on July 28, 2026. These investments are part of the department’s goal to increase the state’s capacity to provide behavioral health urgent care by more than 50%.
NCDHHS partnered with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work to launch a Public Service Leadership Program to raise awareness of social work careers and increase retention in the existing workforce.
In December 2025, NCDHHS launched the Licensed Workforce Loan Repayment Program, a $20 million initiative to recruit and retain licensed professionals who provide mental health, substance use, intellectual and developmental disabilities and traumatic brain injury services in rural and underserved communities.
NCDHHS continues to address the opioid addiction crisis by supporting UnshameNC, a campaign to reduce stigma surrounding people seeking help for opioid addiction and to increase awareness around medications for opioid use disorder. In addition, the state is expanding its network of Opioid Treatment Programs. Since Jan. 1, 2025, 11 physical OTPs have opened in North Carolina, along with the state’s first three mobile units, bringing an OTP presence to six additional counties (Richmond, Scotland, Surry, Person, Beaufort and Alamance). Including the mobile units, North Carolina has 102 OTPs in 57 counties as of July 31, 2026.
In April, to increase access to substance use services, NCDHHS awarded $5.7 million to 12 community-based organizations offering substance-use services and programs in areas that need it the most.
NCDHHS is committed to improving access to care, so all North Carolinians have access to care when and where they need it. For more information on services available near you, visit NCDHHS’ website.
