Project Grant H79SM091714

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) awarded the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services $750,000 on September 30, 2026, under the Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.532) to operationalize a magistrate-to-988-mobile crisis team (MCT) pathway in Judicial District 7, covering Bertie, Halifax, Hertford, and Northampton counties.

NC DHHS will formalize a connection between magistrates receiving involuntary commitment petitions and Real Crisis's 988 crisis backline, which dispatches Integrated Family Services to conduct community-based first examinations before custody orders issue. The state will enhance IFS MCT capacity toward 24/7/365 availability across all four counties and execute formal memoranda of understanding with courts, law enforcement, public service answering points, emergency medical services, and hospitals to enable cross-system data sharing and coordination. The initiative builds on the proven Avery/Watauga model, which reduced involuntary commitment rates by 60%, and operationalizes North Carolina Executive Order 33 and House Bill 1104. IFS already resolves 89.9 percent of behavioral health crises safely in the community; of 307 MCT responses in fiscal year 2025–26, only 3 originated from a magistrate referral. The four-county area represents among North Carolina's highest-poverty rural communities, with poverty rates ranging from 15.2 to 22.8 percent and no inpatient psychiatric facility in any county. Performance extends through September 29, 2030. Place of performance is Raleigh, North Carolina.