Resilient roots NC: strengthening systems, supporting families - children's home society of north carolina (CHSNC) will implement resilient roots NC: strengthening systems, supporting families, a…

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded Children's Home Society of North Carolina, Inc. $500,000 on September 30, 2026, under the Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.532) to implement Resilient Roots NC: Strengthening Systems, Supporting Families, a five-year initiative expanding infant and early childhood mental health services for children in or at risk of child welfare involvement.

CHSNC will train the early childhood workforce statewide, expand Child First dyadic treatment for children birth through five in seven counties, and add infant and early childhood mental health consultation with statewide access to improve early systems of care. Four new Child First teams will deliver direct clinical services to 290 unduplicated children in the Mecklenburg Region (Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, and Rowan Counties) and the Triangle Region (Durham, Wake, Orange, and Johnston Counties). Training and consultation serve the infant and early childhood workforce—mental health clinicians and other adults who care for infants and young children—across all 100 North Carolina counties. Direct clinical services target children birth through age five and their caregivers; training and consultation extend benefits to children birth through age twelve. CHSNC will deliver virtual live training statewide using Complex Trauma Training Consortium curricula and will develop original curricula for the child welfare-adjacent workforce and licensed clinicians. Children served experience or are at risk for social-emotional and behavioral difficulties ranging from early dysregulation to diagnosable serious emotional disturbance. Families receiving services demonstrate Medicaid eligibility and meet clinical criteria, indicating low-income households.

Place of performance is Greensboro, North Carolina. The period of performance extends through September 29, 2031.

Resilient roots NC: strengthening systems, supporting families - children's home society of north carolina (CHSNC) will implement resilient roots NC: strengthening systems, supporting families, a five-year initiative expanding infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) services for children in or at risk of child welfare involvement. CHSNC will train the early childhood workforce statewide, expand child first dyadic treatment for children birth through five in seven counties, and add IECMH consultation with statewide access to improve early systems of care. Training and consultation are available to the infant and early childhood workforce, including mental health clinicians and other adults who care for infants and young children, across north carolina's 100 counties and population of 11,197,968. Direct clinical services cover the mecklenburg region (mecklenburg, cabarrus, and rowan counties) and the triangle region (durham, wake, orange, and johnston counties). Four new child first teams will serve 290 unduplicated children with award funds. Direct services reach children birth through age five and their caregivers. Training and consultation extend the project's reach to children birth through age 12 through the professionals, caregivers, and clinicians who serve them. Children served experience or are at risk for social-emotional and behavioral difficulties ranging from early dysregulation identified through screening to diagnosable conditions, including serious emotional disturbance, requiring early-childhood-specific assessment and treatment. Families receiving child first services demonstrate medicaid eligibility and meet clinical criteria, indicating low-income households. CHSNC will deliver virtual live training statewide using complex trauma training consortium (CTTC) curricula, for which CHSNC is north carolina's sole regional lead site, and will develop original IECMH curricula for the child welfare-adjacent workforce and for licensed clinicians. CHSNC will expand child first, an evidence-based home-based dyadic model delivered through a child-parent psychotherapy approach, from four to eight teams. A newly hired early childhood mental health coach will deliver IECMH consultation to programs, teams, and individual consultees. Goal 1 expands the capacity of north carolina's child welfare-adjacent workforce and mental health clinicians statewide to identify and respond to IECMH needs among children ages 0-12. CHSNC will deliver a minimum of 300 virtual live trainings and build a permanent on-demand digital training library reaching 25 training courses by the end of year 5. Annually, 85 percent of surveyed trainees will demonstrate increased knowledge, and 60 percent will report implementing training content at three months. Goal 2 expands access to IECMH intervention statewide and directly through child first. CHSNC will hire and train four new teams in year 1, building caseloads of 12 to 16 families per team by the end of year 2. All eight teams will serve 630 unduplicated families by the end of the project period, meeting model benchmarks of 60 percent of family-identified needs met and 75 percent of discharged families demonstrating improvement. The expanded workforce will be sustained by medicaid. Goal 3 enhances the quality, reach, and coordination of IECMH service delivery statewide through consultation, strengthening early systems of care. CHSNC will hire an early childhood mental health coach by month 7, with consultation operational by month 9, and both the project director and the coach will complete center of excellence iecmhc certificate training. Consultation will reach at least 8 adults who care for infants and young children in year 1 and at least 20 in each of years 2 through 5, for at least 88 over the project period.