NCDHHS
RALEIGH — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is partnering with the UNC School of Social Work to expand access to suicide prevention training to UNC system universities and community college campuses across the state in 2026-27.
The "Building Capacity and Expanding Access to Suicide Prevention Training for NC Colleges and Universities" project will be led by Alicia Freeman, UNC Mental Health First Aid campus-based program manager, and Paul Lanier, the school’s L. Richardson Preyer Distinguished Chair for Strengthening Families.
"Expanding this training to universities and community colleges will help reach young adults when they are at their most vulnerable," said Dev Sangvai, North Carolina Health and Human Services Secretary. "The pressures of school and worries about their future can cause undue stress. Mental Health First Aid brings the right help at the right time to people who need it."
"I’m grateful for this partnership because it brings practical suicide‑prevention skills directly to the people who connect with young adults every day," said Kelly Crosbie, MSW, LCSW, Assistant Secretary for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services. "When someone knows how to recognize when a student is struggling and how to offer support, it can truly change the path forward. That’s the kind of impact we want to make across North Carolina."
The rate of suicides per 100,000 people in North Carolina almost doubles among males 20-24 years old (26.6), compared to males 15-19 (14.7) and increases by 33 percent among females in those two age groups, according to 2014-2023 data from the North Carolina Violent Death Reporting System.
"College is such a pivotal transition and peak time of development for students ages 18–25," Freeman said. "We’ve seen an amazing culture shift at UNC over the past four years through the work of our MHFA program. Increasing mental health literacy has reduced stigma and increased help-seeking, so I am excited to be able to reach more students pursuing higher education and impact campuses across North Carolina."
Mental Health First Aid teaches individuals how to support people experiencing mental health or substance use challenges. This program has trained more than 4.5 million people in the United States. North Carolina is one of more than 30 states to enact policies and funding to prioritize MHFA.
The research- and evidence-based program trains people in how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use issues, helping them to start conversations with individuals in need of these services until professional care is available.
The project will provide at least 50 MHFA training sessions for North Carolina colleges and universities through June 2027, with the goal of reaching at least 15 institutions, training 600 participants and at least 20 new MHFA instructors. The training will also be offered to NCDHHS employees. The team hopes to host five NCDHHS-specific trainings while reaching at least 100 participants.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness will market and promote the training opportunities on UNC system schools and state community college campuses.
The UNC School of Social Work has served as a partner and program site for MHFA with the National Council for Mental Wellbeing since 2015. The UNC MHFA campus-based program has provided 223 trainings, reaching more than 3,418 individuals since the summer of 2022. Last year, the team developed a follow-up survey with MHFA trainees — the first of its kind on a university campus — and found that 98% of respondents would recommend the training to others.
"We now have solid evidence that people who have taken this training at UNC are quickly putting the skills to work on campus," Lanier said. "As we expand training, the likelihood that someone experiencing a crisis will interact with someone trained in MHFA increases substantially‚ and that has the potential to save lives."
This project aligns with several state priorities and programs, including the state’s Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services strategic plan. Increasing access to care and building the workforce by training new instructors will strengthen the state’s crisis services system.
The project also supports strategic initiatives that are part of the 2026-30 North Carolina Suicide Prevention Action Plan and the state’s Black Youth Suicide Prevention Action Plan, specifically with young adults ages 18-24. This includes leading suicide prevention work, providing community helper training, and providing mental health training and education for college and university-age populations, among others.
